The Amazon and The Moneylender
by Thrythlind
Summary: Shampoo contacts Nabiki on a matter of business. This leads to an unlikely friendship...and then something surprising to both of them. Yuri
1. Money-girl make spatula girl stop chasin...

The Amazon and the Moneylender

After the old troll had managed to lure the persistent octopus into a series of tuna nets the gigantic thing was slaughtered by the fishermen, who were filled with a mixture of terror and avarice. From there the beast was divided among the various boats involved and chopped up for ease of transport. These boats traveled back to their ports and sold this recent catch to their various distributors and restaurant contracts. 

Most of the octopus ended up being heavily processed and doused with any of a number of chemical sterilizers. At least two pieces, however, reached a restaurant in the Nerima district where they prided themselves on the fact that they used no artificial additives or preservatives. Upon getting the appropriate order the cooks took those two pieces and prepared them as necessary.

The head waiter personally, and very nervously, carried the platters to the table that had ordered the exotic meal. He set the plate down and bowed profusely as he backed away from the table.

The man's presence was explained by the presence of the one girl, a longtime customer. She looked about eighteen or nineteen, but carried herself with a satisfied and mildly amused aura. Her brown hair was cut short, about neck height curling around in front of her face a little. Her petite, slightly upturned, nose hung over a mildly smirking mouth.

His nervousness, on the other hand, was easily explained by the other girl's presence. The blue haired Chinese girl was well known as being one of the greatest sources of property damage, second only to Ryouga Hibiki, that Nerima had ever encountered in _all_ its history. This girl was looking at her dinner companion with a measure of suspicion and veiled fear.

"Shampoo do her part, now money-girl answer Shampoo question!" the blue-haired girl demanded. The waiter and everyone within hearing glanced nervously at the infamously short-tempered amazon. They didn't want to do anything even moderately insulting, fearing how that might make the amazon react. Of course only a few of them knew that the other girl was easily more dangerous to annoy, for she was the secret mistress of Nerima.

"On the condition that I set forth before," the brown haired girl insisted as she plucked her first piece of the giant octopus sushi special (for a limited time only). Across from her, Shampoo was irritably picking at her meal. She noted that the Amazon was not taking the proper time necessary to savor the exquisite taste of the dish. "You don't expect me to harm my sister in any way," the brown haired girl looked up for a moment to glare at the amazon. All the amusement was gone as she spoke the last two words. "Do you?"

"How Shampoo expect you to help win Airen if you not help Shampoo get violent-girl out of way?"

"I don't care if you manage to win Ranma's heart or not, consider it my method of testing his loyalty. However, I'll not hurt my sister to help you do it, understood?" 

"Shampoo, understand," the amazon answered, grudgingly. She had to admit that Nabiki was certainly a formidable negotiator, and what she wouldn't give to have that sort of effortless and dignified beauty.

"Good," Nabiki returned to her former good humor. A genuine and sudden shift of mood, something she had learned to control quite a long time ago. "Then go ahead and ask your questions then."

"Aiya," Shampoo declared happily. Nabiki blinked, and then recovered her manner. Shampoo was wonderfully naive, it was amazing, Nabiki never considered the possibility of a violent innocent before. "If money-girl not help Shampoo with sister, then maybe you help take spatula-girl out of picture?" The fact that guys, guys who didn't know her violent tendencies, and quite a few who did, turned their heads as she arrived didn't make her any less enviable.

"Hmm," Nabiki thought about this. "Ukyou, eh? Well that could be interesting." Her eyebrows crimped and she laughed quietly.

"What you mean?" Shampoo asked nervously.

"What do you know about matchmaking?" Nabiki asked still laughing.

"Baka!" the insult was followed by a loud clanging sound.

"What was that for!?!" came the boy's answering shout.

"You were supposed to tell her all about your undying love for her," the first speaker. She was a girl about seventeen or eighteen, wielding a huge spatula. Her hair hung down to her mid back and was tied with a cute, white ribbon. "Not comment on her ability as a martial artist."

"I'm _sorry_, Ukyou!" the boy shouted angrily. "I just couldn't do it, there was....too much....risk." The boy managed to combine depression, fury and embarrassment into one indescribable emotion. He was about Ukyou's age, but about a foot taller wearing a yellow shirt and a black and yellow bandana.

"So you tell her that she 'really needs to practice more!?!?!'" Ukyou demanded. "You're lucky that she only hit once, Ryouga."

"At least she doesn't hit me with a giant spatula every time I ask a question!"

Clang

"What was that? I couldn't hear what you said."

"You violent, uncute, _chef_!"

ClangClang

"What was that for!?!"

"What did you hit me for?!!?"

This was witnessed from the trees above by a very reluctant and nervous Shampoo.

"Trust me," she remembered Nabiki saying. "They _really_ like each other, for all I know it _might_ even be love. Make her think your moving in on her territory and she's bound to fight back."

"Hey, if spatula-girl get pig-boy, won't he stop chasing money-girl sister?"

"I really doubt that my sister will ever notice that patheticly shy boy," Nabiki assured her. "Either way its one fiancee down, isn't it?" Nabiki raised an eye-brow.

"But what make pig-boy like spatula-girl?"

"Oh, I'll handle that problem," Nabiki laughed.

Then later it was her great-grandmother.

"I'm not sure I trust this Nabiki," Cologne cautioned her. "It could be that she too has designs on the boy."

"Great-grandmother just upset I not go to you for help this time," Shampoo insisted. "Money-girl only care about money, and she very smart."

"And have you stopped to consider that she might be trying to trick you into serving her own purposes?"

"Yes, Shampoo know she make much money if spatula-girl dates pig-boy sooner than later."

"Oh, I see," Cologne nodded. "In that case, perhaps she can be trusted."

Back in the trees Shampoo breathed in a large sigh of relief as she cleared her mind of the flashbacks.

"Time Shampoo go to work," she almost sounded like she was purring. Shampoo leaped down from her tree and glomped onto Ryouga with a half-way plausible "Woda Airen!" It didn't take long for Ukyou to recover from the face-fault.

"Ryouga?" Ukyou began, far too calmly and sweetly for Ryouga's liking. It reminded of the way Akane sometimes talked to Ranma.

"Y-yes?" he asked, trying to turn to face the okonomiyaki chef while trapped in Shampoo's surprisingly strong arms. The amazon meanwhile was smiling and and nuzzling her head against his chest.

"Tell me you didn't beat Shampoo in combat," Ukyou said quietly. Then she started yelling. "_AND YOU BETTER DO IT QUICKLY!!!!!!!!!"_

"I didn't! I didn't!" Ryouga declared. "I not know what going on...er...I mean I don't know....AAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

Clang

The Amazon stared in trepidation at the flattened boy. If her deception was revealed, the two would be more than willing to do that to her. 

"Shampoo practicing in woods when something hit back of head and Shampoo go night-night," the amazon explained. "Shampoo wake up and here 'excuse me' as new Airen walk away."

"I...did....n't...meeeaan it," Ryouga drawled out as he struggled back to consciousness.

*_Clang*Clang*Clang*Clang*Clang*_

"You idiot!" Ukyou yelled. "After everything I'm doing to help you win Akane's love, your off romancing Shampoo as well! You...you...you...."

"Ukyou, I didn't do anything," Ryouga pleaded, miraculously recovered after multiple spatula strikes. "I must have just landed on her last time you orbit kicked me!" Ukyou wasn't listening.

"Casanova!!!!!!!....You're just as bad as Ranma!" The chef stomped away. "RYOUGA NO BAKA!!!!!!!!!" Ryouga winced as Ukyou shouted those last words.

"Fine be that way!"

"Wo ai ni," Shampoo whispered, again glomped onto Ryouga. Nabiki had stressed that it was necessary for him to believe the deception as well.

"Get off me!" Ryouga yelled leaping up and away. Before Shampoo could even make it look like she was following he had extended his umbrella and was gliding away on a wind current.

"Now money-girl's turn," Shampoo noted.

"What is this image of beauty I see before me?" the pompous voice demanded. "This is not my lovely Akane or the Pig-Tailed Goddess."

"What is it Kuno-Baby?" Nabiki asked feigning annoyance. She looked at the picture he was inquiring about. "Oh, that? Sorry, that's another customer's merchandise, didn't mean to give it to you." Nabiki casually reached out to retrieve the photo she had "mistakenly" delivered to his hand.

"Nae, I shall keep this glorious image." He held in his hand a picture of Ukyou cooking. "She is so disciplined and focused, like the blade of a finely wrought katana. Honed to a brilliant sharpness and oneness of purpose. Yes, this woman is indeed a wonderous example of human nature. Truly a prize worth the winning." The would-be samurai ceased his rant for a moment to again address Nabiki. "Tell me, fair Nabiki, who is this beauty and where might I find her?"

"Two thousand yen." Nabiki demanded. Kuno forked over the cash unhesitantly.

"Now I demand you..." Nabiki held up a hand to forestall his next spiel.

"Hold it Kuno-Baby," she told him. "That was for the photo, the name will cost you five thousand yen, and her home will cost you another eight thousand."

"Errrgghh!" Kuno growled. "You would demand my soul itself if you could use it, woman." He handed over the thirteen hundred yen. "Now what is her name and place of residence?"

"Her name is Ukyou Kuonji," Nabiki told him. "She lives with Ryouga at Ucchan's restaurant."

"Ryouga?" Kuno asked. "And who is this...Ryouga?" Nabiki stopped to think for a moment.

"Four thousand yen."

"Damn it woman! Who is this person?!?!" Kuno demanded as passed over more money.

"You know Ryouga," Nabiki told him. "He's that guy with the umbrella Ranma is always fighting with."

"Ah yes, Ryouga Hibiki," Kuno said in sudden realization. "I had thought that he was a man of honor and discipline, but it appears that he is just another sorcerer. Obviously he is the evil Saotome's former apprentice come to overthrow his master and beginning by enslaving this fair maiden with his vile magics. I must go to rescue her at once!" The samurai leaped to his feet and charged out of the diner.

"Whatever, Kuno-Baby," Nabiki said to the disappearing dust trail. She smiled and thought back to Shampoo's objections over dinner.

"What make money-girl sure sword-boy want date spatula-girl?" Shampoo had asked, unceremoniously wiping her face after devouring the last of her meal. Nabiki half-wished that she could be so free from social restraint, but she did have an image to maintain.

"Oh yeah," Nabiki started sarcastically. "Like it would be difficult to get Kuno obsessed with someone. We're not talking about the most intelligent or stable of people here."

"Money-girl have point," Shampoo agreed.

"He's even more dense than you," Nabiki pointed out.

"What that mean?" Shampoo demanded crossly.

"Though in your case I'd call hard-headness a virtue," Nabiki added, trying to save from her earlier mistake. "You certainly don't give up very easily."

"That right, Shampoo no ever give up," she admitted reluctantly. Nabiki thought she was trying to decide if she had been insulted or not. "What if sword-boy hurt spatula-girl?" Shampoo didn't sound as if this would necessarily be a bad thing.

"Not likely," Nabiki asserted. "He might pester her to death, but nothing worse."

Nabiki's mind returned to the present as she walked out of the diner at a much more sedate pace than Kuno. Her stride was only broken as she worked to avoid the sharp broken points of the door Kuno smashed on his way out.

"Now, if Shampoo did her job..." Nabiki's thought was interrupted as boy in a familiar yellow and green outfit floated down from the sky under a red bamboo umbrella.

"Excuse me," Ryouga started, with a great deal of resignation. "Do you know how to get to Ucchan's from her?"

"Follow Kuno," Nabiki suggested, hooking her thumb towards the rapidly disappearing dust cloud the samurai was kicking up. "He's on his way to see Ukyou." Nabiki silently thanked her luck that he had appeared with such exceptional timing.

"Kuno?!" Ryouga shouted, he was immediately racing after the would-be samurai, struggling to keep him in view. "What does that pervert want with Ukyou!" His last shout carried back to Nabiki as he too vanished in a cloud of dust. Nabiki didn't want to guess the odds that Ryouga would actually find his way to Ucchan's, but at least the trap was set.

Nabiki didn't know that Kuno had been training hard recently, finally admitting to himself that his skills needed improvement. He was at least on level with Mousse now, and much more unstable. In other words, he was an actual threat to the most of the Nerima warriors.

"What's that sound?" Ukyou asked no one in particular. Then the door to her restaurant was slammed open.

"Oh lovely Ukyou!" Kuno shouted to the recoiling Okonomiyaki chef. "I, the great Tatewaki Kuno, called the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, have come to prove my love to you by freeing you from the clutches of the vile Ryouga Hibiki. His evil magicks and black magic spells can not possibly stand before the might of my blade."

"Shouldn't you be propositioning Akane or Ranma-Chan or something," Ukyou asked nervously. She was plastered to the wall, putting as much distance between herself and Kuno as she possibly could."

"Ah, yes," Kuno stood straight and closed his eyes as if in remembrance. "My other loves. Akane the tigress, and the Pig-Tailed Goddess like a wind in the grass. I still must free them from the vile clutches of Hibiki's master the evil Ranma Soatome. But I felt I must also declare my love to you, oh mistress Kuonji, and test my skills against the lesser sorcerer before I again whet my blade on Soatome's hide!"

"Ka...mi....sa.....ma....." Ukyou said in desperation. Then she was out the back door of her restaurant. "Ryouga!!!! Where on earth are you?!?"

"Wait my love!" Kuno shouted as he followed. "I have a poem in which my love for you is declared!! Wait I say!"

"KUNO! What are you doing to Ukyou?!?" Ryouga demanded.

"Qu'est que vous avez besoin?" the person in front of him asked nervously, with a forced nasal sound due to the umbrella under his nose.

"Oh, Vous n'etes pas Kuno," Ryouga noted before pulling back his umbrella and scratching his head in embarrassment. "Er....Ou est Japon?"

"C'est japon," the man said.

"Pourquoi est-ce que vous parlez en francais?" Ryouga asked.

"Je suis une tourist," the man insisted. "Je ne parle pas en japonais."

"Oh, je regrette," Ryouga said. "Au revoir." Ryouga went back to running and looking for Ucchan's. "Damn it, I know it's around here somewhere."

"You..."

"WHY...." 

*CLANG* 

"...must..."

"....DON'T....." 

*CLANG* 

"...not..."

"....YOU...." 

"...be..."

*CLANG* 

"...my fair..."

".....STAY...." 

*CLANG* 

"...Ukyou..."

"....DOWN?!?!?!?" 

*CLANG*

"Merely...." *CLANG* "...a false demon..." *CLANG* "...sent to torment me." *CLANG* "Very well...." *CLANG* "Then I shall fight as well!"

"AAAAGH!!! STAY DOWN!"

"Well?" Nabiki asked as she answered the phone.

"Spatula-girl walked out on pig-boy," Shampoo said on the other end.

"Good," Nabiki laughed. "That's what I was planning on happening."

"Strange way to make match," Shampoo commented. "You?"

"Ryouga is off chasing Kuno who is off chasing Ukyou."

"Me no pay you rest until spatula-girl give up on Airen."

"Don't worry, Kitty" Nabiki assured her. "I have everything under control."

Akane and Ranma were interrupted in mid-argument by a desperate looking Ukyou. The okonomiyaki chef was panting heavily, her clothes were battered and torn. All that remained of her mega-spatula was a splintered handle that she gripped in her right hand. Her left arm hung loose out of joint, and her right eye was obviously starting to swell shut. 

"Akane! Ranma!" she shouted. "You have to hide me!!!"

"Ucchan?" Ranma asked in surprise.

"What happened to you!?" Akane added.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ukyou demanded. Suddenly the door behind her opened up and a well-battered Kuno had thrown a flurry of attacks at her before anybody could react. "Hey!!" Akane shouted, about the same time Ranma yelled "Ukyou!!" Ukyou finally was thrown back from him into a wall where she slid to the floor.

"Ah ha, I see that the vile Hibiki has used the Ukyou-copy to lure me into a trap. It is obvious that he fears my blade and hopes that his master in the black arts can dispose of me for him. Well! He should know that I, Tatewaki Kuno, have had dealings with the vile Saotome before, and he has yet to vanquish me. Come warlock let us fight this battle for the souls of all three my loves!" 

They all started to move just as the ceiling collapsed on top of the deluded samurai. Ranma and Akane had heard the characteristic sound of "Baksai-Tenketsu" and had taken cover. Fortunately the samurai wannabe took the full force of both explosion and Ryoga landing on top of him.

Ryouga shouted something in what they thought might be Gaelic. It was apparent the he had not yet recognized them. He scanned around and saw Ukyou lying battered across the room. Instantly he rushed to her side, cradling the exhausted and bruised chef in his arms. "Ukyou!?! What are you doing in Ireland? And who did this to you?"

Ukyou responded to the insistent but gentle ministrations by waking up enough to hear most of the questions.

"Baka....Not Ireland...." She said before falling unconscious again.

"Ukyou!?!" he checked to make sure she was still alive before setting her back down again gently. "WherE IS THE BASTARD!!!!"

"Who dares topple the Great Tatewaki Kuno!?! The varlet shall pay dearly for this undignified insult."

"Kuno...." Ryouga growled.

"Want help Ryouga?" Ranma asked, cracking his knuckles.

"We're right behind you," Akane agreed readily.

"He's mine." Ryouga's voice was grim. "Get her to Tofu's."

"So it is you, the vile sorcerer's apprentice," Kuno said in dismissive manner, then noted the battered Ukyou. "I have defeated the foul creature that you gave miss Kuonji's form. Now I, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, shall smi-*" His spiel was interrupted by a volley of fury driven fists and kicks.

"You damn arrogant prick!" Ryouga shouted. "Think you can go around beating on girls do you? I'll show you!!" Kuno recovered himself quickly, of them all he had always seemed to have the highest capability to heal.

"Foolish worker of dark magics!" Kuno shouted as her swung his bokken into Ryouga. The lost-boy winced a little at the impact, but nothing more. Ranma was concerned upon seeing that, he knew just how much damage was needed to make Ryouga actually feel pain while enraged.

The fight was quickly carried outside as Kuno succeeded in ramming the lost boy through one of the dojo walls. From there Ranma and Akane heard the sound of a quick series of Baksai-Tenketsu blasts.

"Ryouga has Kuno under control I think," Ranma told them. They could all hear the sound of Baksai-Tenketsu's being performed in rapid succession. "How's Ukyou?"

"Do you think we can get her to Dr. Tofu's?" Akane asked Ranma, desparately. 

"I think I have an idea," Ranma said before running into the guest room.

"What's going on?" Nabiki asked curiously as Ranma passed by.

"We have to get Ukyou to Dr. Tofu's," Ranma informed her.

"What?!" Nabiki shouted after him. "Why?!?"

"Kuno beat her up! Ryouga's after him now, I need a stretcher or something."

"He beat her up!" Nabiki repeated in disbelief. "H-he's never done anything even remotely like this before!!" She quickly rushed to where Ranma had come from and quickly found Ukyou. Akane had called Kasumi and their older sister had brought out an icepack and small collection of bandages. Ranma reappeared soon after Nabiki.

"I think we can use this to get her to the clinic," he suggested. He appeared to be carrying some form of hammock or something similar.

"Why did he do this?" Nabiki demanded. "What happened?"

"Not right now Nabiki," Akane commanded as Ranma laid the make-shift stretcher on the floor. "Help us move her."

Nabiki quickly moved to do so, and the four of them easily moved Ukyou to the stretcher. If the circumstances had been otherwise, Ranma and Akane would have wondered why Nabiki was being so enthusiastic about helping them. As it was they had more important things to consider.

"Kasumi and Nabiki," Ranma said as he and Akane hefted either side of the stretcher. "Stay here and wait for Ryouga, in case he can find his way back."

"That's fine," Nabiki said angrily. "I have some calls to make."

"Your vile sorcerer's tricks can't fool me Hibiki," Kuno declared. "And to think I once thought you a man of honor!" Ryouga didn't say anything intelligible as he tossed bandana after bandana at the samurai. 

Ryouga could see how Kuno had beaten Ukyou so badly now. It wasn't the man's skill that was the problem, it was keeping him down once you beat him. He had thought the samurai had been getting progressively harder to defeat, but hadn't really paid attention to it until now. There had to be a way to at least semi-permanently keep the man down, but it was proving difficult to find.

"I have beaten the vile succubus that you summoned to fool me into believing that it was my fair Ukyou," the samurai declared. This angered Ryouga even further. Unfortunately there was no self-pity involved in this rage so he couldn't reach the depths of depression needed for the Shi Shi Houkoudan. Fortunately he also had an endurance level that fairly equally compensated for Kuno's fast healing time.

Umbrella clashed against bokken as the pair continued their battle, leaving a wake of explosions behind them. The anger of both opponents flared brightly as their auras lit the streets that should have been growing darker.

It was quickly becoming apparent to Ryouga that the fight would last until one of them dropped from exhaustion. Neither Ranma and Akane had much trouble keeping the samurai down, but then they both had the tendency to orbit kick him away rather than allow him to stand and fight.

It was too late in the fight for an orbit kick, Kuno would be too on guard for it. On the other hand there was another trick that he had been working on. A variation of one of Ranma's actually.

"Come on, asshole," Ryouga growled. "Let's go." He started driving forward viciously letting his umbrella lead the way.

"You honorless dog!" Kuno shouted. "How dare you push me back! I am the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, a warrior of unmatched might and fury."

"Shut and fight," Ryouga demanded. The battle suddenly acquired two more spectators along with the others who had gathered at the edge of destruction.

"That looks like a spiral pattern," Hiroshi noted.

"Can't be," Daisuke responded. "Ranma's not down there."

The two flaming red battle auras met near the center of a massive spiral as Ryouga shouted out.

"JIGOKU HI HONO'O!!!!" As the spectators watched it seemed as if all Ryouga's angry chi was piled into Kuno's. The abrupt doubling and redoubling of Kuno's fury proved too much for the samurai too handle. The heat reached out and suddenly the witnesses to fight were treated to the site of a massive pillar of flame engulfing the would-be samurai and most of the entire spiral. The fire spun outward, blowing things away rather than sucking them in like the Hiryu Shouten Ha.

Ryouga wasn't unscathed in this confrontation either. He had managed to avoid the "Hell Fire Blaze" mostly, but the blast had still thrown him into backwards through a building. The difference was that Ryouga could still stand afterwards, and Kuno was, at the very least, not going to be moving for quite awhile.

"Errr, think somebody should call an ambulance?"

"For a Kuno?" Hiroshi looked at his friend and comrade in gambling. "Well maybe this once."

Ryouga stumbled to the center of the crater where a charred Kuno lay in a twitching pile. He wouldn't be getting up anytime soon from those injuries. A further point of fact towards rendering him defenseless was the fact that his bokken was no where to be seen. Ryouga assumed that had been reduced to ashes and carried away in blast.

"Gotcha, you bastard," he spat on the unconcscious samurai and started walking back to the Tendo dojo, falling the trail of destruction. He wanted to make sure he didn't get lost, so he restrained himself from running. At least the trail was somewhat easy to follow. As he started to walk away a half burned picture of Ukyou drifted down in front of him.

"Where'd this-?" he started to ask as he pocketed it. Then he realized who it had to be. "Nabiki." Then he looked back in the direction he was walking.

"Hey!" Ryouga said. "Where on Earth am I now!?!?"

"You heard me," Nabiki said, voice filled with ice. "Tatewaki Kuno, call in all his debts.""

"B-b-but Miss Tendo," the man on the other end of phone started. "You said it yourself, he's worth more as a source of income than merely taking in all his property."

"This isn't business," Nabiki informed him. "This is personal."

"Personal?" suddenly the man was terrified. It was best not to get in Nabiki's way on anything even _remotely_ resembling a personal vendetta. "I'm right on it Miss Tendo."

"Good," she answered. Outside the blast of Ryouga's Jigoku Hi Hono'o flared against the night sky before fading away to nothing. "Excuse me I have to go now."

"H-Hai," her minion on the other end hung up nervously.

"Oh my," Kasumi said quietly. Soun and Genma chose this moment to return home from another "training session" at the local sushi bar's all you can eat special lunch.

"What was that?" Genma shouted.

"It appears to be have been a spiral of flame," Soun noted technically. "It bares a remarkable similarity to Ranma's Hiryu Shouten Ha."

"You're right Tendo," Genma agreed. "It's spiralling outward, and the fire bares a marked resemblance to battle aura."

"I guess that means Ryouga finished Kuno," Nabiki said. "Good."

"Nabiki, Kasumi, what is going on here?" Soun asked.

"Well we don't have all the details," Kasumi said. "But it seems that Kuno attacked Ukyou and chased her here. Ryouga then chased him out the dojo while Ranma and Akane took Ukyou to Dr. Tofu's clinic."

""I see," Genma said. "The samurai finally snapped then?"

"Excuse me." Nabiki was shaken, this was directly her fault. Unfortunately for her she couldn't tell anybody, or else it might do more damage. Also, there was the possibility of a threat to her own health as well. She'd tell them about the picture later, but play it up as a mistake, an accident.

Then she realized, there was one person that she could talk to about this. Not that Shampoo would be any help, but at least she already knew the truth of the situation. She also wasn't likely to turn around and spread the story all over town. She picked up the phone and dialed the Shampoo's number.

"Xie Xie," she heard Shampoo's voice on the other end.

"Shampoo could I...talk to you?"

"Money-girl?" Shampoo asked. "Talk fine, what about?"

"Not over the phone," Nabiki said. She thought for a moment. "How about that vacant lot, it always seems to work for Ranma and Akane."

"Okay, see you there, bye." Nabiki hung up the phone and started walking for the door.

"I'm going somewhere for a little while," Nabiki told her family and Ranma's dad. "Be back soon."

"What happened to this girl," Dr. Tofu asked as he applied bandages and medicines.

"Kuno," Ranma told him, saying the name with a great deal of venom and anger.

"I was afraid something like this might happen someday," Dr. Tofu nodded grimly.

"Is she going to be okay?" Akane asked nervously.

"The injuries are extensive," Dr. Tofu admitted. "But she should effect a complete recovery."

"Oh good," Akane breathed a sigh of relief. Then Ukyou snapped awake, she tried to sit up, but found that excessively uncomfortable and let herself lay back against the bed.

"Where is he?" Ukyou asked, a little nervously.

"Kuno's gone," Akane assured her.

"No, not Kuno," Ukyou corrected them. "Where's Ryouga."

At that point the night sky outside the clinic was lit by a huge pillar of flame that must have been about three miles away.

"He went after Kuno," Ranma answered unnecessarily as the light through the windows faded. "Why'd Kuno attack you? He usually just bugs girls."

"It was the next logical step in his delusions," Dr. Tofu said. "Considering his belief that Ranma is a black sorcerer it was only a matter of time before he came up with the idea of dopplegangers copying his 'loves'." He turned to Ukyou and admonished her. "Don't try to sit up again."

"Don't worry, I won't," Ukyou answered dryly. She relaxed against the clinic bed, trying to ignore the mine of breathing past a pair of broken ribs. Ukyou noticed Ranma and Akane watching her very cautiously. Ukyou hoped she didn't sound as shaken and terrified as she felt. "I think I'm just going to go to sleep for a little while."

"Perhaps you should let her sleep," Dr. Tofu suggested.

"What money-girl want to talk about?" Shampoo asked, curiously. The amazon was somewhat worried about Nabiki, she wasn't acting normal at all. The usually arrogant and cynical girl seemed almost contrite even.

"You were right about Kuno," Nabiki said, sitting on an old lawn chair someone had thrown out.

"What that mean?" Shampoo asked. "What Shampoo say about sword boy?"

"He..." Nabiki faltered as she considered repeating the events of the day. Shampoo leaped from her tree perch and performed a cursory examination of Nabiki. "What are you doing?"

"You okay?" Shampoo asked as she ascertained that there were no visible bruises or marks. "He not do anything to you?"

"No, not me," Nabiki said indignantly. "Ukyou! He hit Ukyou!"

"Oh," Shampoo said, neutrally. "What your problem?" Nabiki half growled, she should have known that Shampoo wouldn't understand things.

"It's my fault!" Nabiki shouted. "I set him up to 'fall in love' with Ukyou."

"So spatula-girl in fight with sword-boy," Shampoo shrugged. "She martial artist, she handle bruise or two. Not like he fight you or nice-girl."

"How about a broken leg?" Nabiki asked. "Or a dislocated shoulder? Or broken ribs?"

"What?!?!!!?" Shampoo responded in disbelief, then she started walking away. "Excuse me, must go kill sword-boy now."

"Don't bother," Nabiki said. "Ryouga already got him."

"Oh, problem solved." Nabiki blinked as the amazon returned suddenly to her normal cheerful demeanor.

"I wish I could do that," Nabiki said, smirking a little.

"What you mean?" Shampoo asked, confused. Nabiki laughed, an actual full laugh, not her usual snide giggle. "What so funny?"

"Never mind," Nabiki said. "Thanks Shampoo, I needed to talk to some one."

"No problem, but go back to work now. Bye bye!" Shampoo leaped away in standard martial artist fashion.

It was three days later when Ryouga finally reached the Tendo dojo. By this time Kuno had been hospitalized, bankrupt and under police guard. He looked like he normally did after returning from being lost. That meant that he was tired, bruised, covered in a variety of twigs and leaves, and leaning heavily on his umbrella.

"Oh, Ryouga," Kasumi said as she answered the door. "We were wondering what happened to you."

"Kasumi?" he asked nervously. "I'm there?..er...I mean, I'm here? Where's Ukyou? Is she all right?"

"Ukyou? I believe that she is still at Dr. Tofu's clinic," Kasumi answered him.

"Right!" Ryouga started to turn around and leave, but then thought better of it. He turned back around. "Are Ranma or Akane around?"

"Don't worry, lost-boy," someone said from inside the dojo. "I can take you there." Ryouga narrowed his eyes as Nabiki appeared.

"I want to talk to you anyway," he noted darkly. Nabiki paused in her stride and looked at him curiously. Ryouga thought he noted a crack in the girl's normally glass smooth demeanor.

"Really?" she asked dryly. "What about?"

"A photograph."

"I see, let's walk and talk," Nabiki said as she passed the obviously angry martial artist. Ryouga followed behind.

"Have a good walk you two!" Kasumi called out to them before returning to the chores that seemed to fill her life.

"Kuno had a picture of Ukyou," Ryouga told her a little bit later after they were. "How did he get it?" Nabiki stopped and sighed.

"From me, of course," Nabiki answered. "Something Tsubasa wanted, Kuno saw it by accident and went nuts over it." She started walking again.

"So all this _is_ your fault!" Nabiki winced at the accusation.

"I know my responsibility," she assured him. "Kuno is _quite _finished here." Ryouga glared at her, but the tone of Nabiki's speech made him cautious about further insulting her.

"I'm keeping an eye on you," he told her.

"I would be insulted if you didn't," Nabiki said. "Here we are." Ryouga turned to look at Dr. Tofu's clinic.

"Thank you, Nabiki," he said, grudgingly. They walked into the small building, watching each other cautiously. It didn't take them long, with Nabiki navigating, to find the single patient room that the small clinic possessed. Ryouga peaked into the room nervously and saw a bandaged Ukyou chatting with Akane, who was sitting in a chair to the side of the bed. Oddly enough he didn't even notice Akane at first.

"Ukyou?" he asked as he stepped into the room. The okonomiyaki chef turned to face him. Her eye was still bandaged, her left arm was in a sling, and she had a cast on her left leg as well. Most of the bruises had visibly improved, however, and she certainly seemed to be her normal self when she was talking with Akane a moment ago.

"Ryouga?" she responded back. He walked forward to within a couple feet of Ukyou and bowed low in apparent shame. "What is it?"

"Gomen nasai," he said. "I was...too slow."

"Ryouga, please," Ukyou said frantically. "It wasn't your fault. How could any one know what he was going to do." Nobody, not even Ryouga, noticed Nabiki flinch. Ukyou reached out with her good arm and forced him to look into her face. "This all Kuno's fault, nobody else's." She hugged him with her one good arm, and he gingerly returned the embrace, fearful of hurting her.

"I'm sorry about yelling at you," Ukyou suddenly admitted, tears rolling down onto Ryouga's shoulders. "I know you weren't after Shampoo."

"Who cares about Shampoo?" Nabiki's eyes narrowed at that.

"Umm do you guys want to be alone?" Akane asked.

"Huh?" Ryouga blinked. "Akane?"

"Did you say something?" Ukyou asked.

"I'll take that as a yes," Akane said, quietly leaving the room and dragging Nabiki with her.

"How dare he dismiss Shampoo like that!" Nabiki grumbled as soon as they reached the lobby. "She's twice the martial artist Ukyou is, and much more honest at that!"

"Uh, Nabiki."

"What is it Akane?" she demanded irately.

"Why are you defending Shampoo?"

"Uh...I don't know," Nabiki admitted, suddenly confused.

[Thrythlind's Anime Page][1]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/anime.html



	2. Two more favors to ask.

The Amazon and the Moneylender, Episode 2

"OO-hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha!!!!" the high pitched laugh rang throughout the small room, bouncing off walls and bouncing back and forth, combining and enhancing itself. Anybody who had never experienced the sound before would have been huddled in corner trying hold the sound out of their ears.

"_Dear_ sister," Kuno, still bandaged head to toe, began from behind the slowly cracking bullet-proof glass. "This is not a laughing matter."

"I'm sorry, brother-dear," the black-haired girl responded, trying to get control of herself. "Actually...no I am not. OO-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"

"Kodachi, you have to get me out of here." The would-be samurai was demanding this of her now. "I must find the real Ukyou to prove that the creature a defeated is merely an inhuman imposter in the service of the foul Hibiki and his master Saotome."

"Brother-_dear_," Kodachi answered, seriously. "You have stretched even _my_ limits. You'll have to use your _own_ resources, oh that's right, you _have_ no resources. OO-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!"

"You mean to say that you don't believe me?" Kuno said in disbelief.

"Of course not," Kodachi stood up and turned around. "Good-_bye_ brother-dear."

"Don't think that I'll forget this _dear _sister," he limped his way back to his cell under escort. "It matters not, my faithful Sasuke will come for me."

"Where do you think you're going?" Sasuke jumped at the sound of the voice, muffled enough to be totally unidentifiable. He turned around slowly and saw a black garbed figure sitting on the light pole above him.

"To free master Kuno from the jail, of course," Sasuke answered. The black garbed figure dropped to the ground with a grace born of years of ninja training. "Aren't I supposed to serve thee Kuno family?"

"The Kuno family," the figure agreed, he couldn't even tell what gender the other ninja was. "Not Tatewaki Kuno."

"The clan has revoked its support?"

"We don't need to be connected to him any longer. Perhaps you shall keep a closer eye on his sister and father?"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke gulped.

"You indicated that his....less healthy aspects....were contained and limited to a target that could easily handle himself. The Jonin never did approve of the man, though your reports were convincing enough to sustain our support."

"I couldn't have predicted the Kuonji incident." The figure ignored him.

"Your mission is revised, from the Jonin's mouth. Tatewaki is branded a traitor to the Kuno clan, is that understood?"

"H-h-hai," Sasuke kowtowed and slinked back to the Kuno mansion under cover of night.

"Isn't Ukyou out of Dr. Tofu's yet?" Ranma asked. Akane growled.

"Why are you worried about her?" Akane asked irritably.

"Not like that!!! Not like that!!!" Ranma declared, waving his hands desperately. "It's just that no one's in at Ucchan's yet." He squinted an eye open to see whether he had to dodge a mallet or not.

"What?" Akane was surprised at that as well. "Ryouga picked her up days ago."

"_Ryouga_ picked her up?"

"Yes, what does that..." Akane paused. "Oh. Uh oh."

"Baka!! Go the _other _way!!" Ukyou shouted.

"Oh, sorry," Ryouga turned the wheelchair around.

"THE _OTHER_ OTHER WAY!!!" Ryouga stopped.

"Which way?" Ryouga asked. Ukyou pointed irritably.

"It's a thirty minute walk between Ucchans and Dr. Tofu's!!" Ukyou yelled. "And we've been walking for at least a day!!!"

"Actually, it has been almost three days," Ryouga admitted grudgingly. "You were asleep for quite awhile."

"EERRGGHH!! I don't know where we are," Ukyou said despondently. "I can't see over all these gaijin, are we in the business district or something? You didn't keep going after I fell asleep, did you."

"Uhh...."

*CLANG*

"Okay, I just need to find something I...rec..og..nize?" Ukyou blinked as the crowd cleared for a moment. She turned to the dazed Ryouga, "RYOUGA NO BAKA!!!!"

"What did I do??" Ryouga pleaded. "And where'd you get another spatula."

"Kasumi brought it over," she explained calmly, then started yelling again. "This isn't Nerima!!" Ukyou shouted. "This isn't even Japan!!!" She pointed to an old building surrounded by a variety of shops and other businesses.

"Hey, I think I've seen this in a movie somewhere," Ryouga said.

"IT'S THE ALAMO!!!" Ukyou shouted. "Haven't you ever seen a John Wayne movie?!? AARRGGHHH!!! How did we get here?"

"The last place I stopped was that lounge," Ryouga said, thinking back.

"Lounge? What lounge?" Ukyou asked.

"It was really expensive to get into," Ryouga said. "Long with really tightly packed rows of seats. And I think it was on stilts or something because felt really bumpy. I think you slept the entire time."

"Expensive? Long rows? Bumpy?" Ukyou blinked several times. "THAT WAS AN AIRPLANE YOU IDIOT!!!"

"Oh, _that_ would explain why all those TVs were on the weather channel."

"ARRRGHHH!!!!!!!!"

"You sure this cover Shampoo debt?" Shampoo asked, nervously.

"Shh!" Nabiki insisted. The middle Tendo's eyes were locked onto the screen where Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were talking about the way the world worked in badly dubbed Japanese.

"This very boring movie," Shampoo whispered irritably. The rest of the movie went something like this.

"It's *sniff* so *sniff* beautiful..."

"It big ice cube."

"I know.....but its a *sniff* _profitable_ ice cube."

"Oh Shampoo....it's so *sniff* sad..."

"Girly-boy freezing, boo-hoo."

"No...I *sniff* I should have pushed for a bigger share, WAAAAAA!!!"

"Hey!! Quiet back there!!" Somebody shouted, they turned to see a glowing, very cross looking, Shampoo staring at them. This caused them to decide to keep to themselves and watch the rest of the movie.

"Honorable grandmother," Mousse began. "Where is Shampoo? I have not seen her all day." Cologne growled, and then thought about. Shampoo was out with that Tendo girl, the money grubbing sneak. This was something that Cologne was concerned about, and not only because she suspected that Nabiki was behind foiling some of her more subtle plans. The plans that never managed to reach daylight, unlike the accidental and improvised plots that she did manage to bring out to fruition.

"She is out with that Tendo girl," she told the blind young boy.

"What is Shampoo doing with Akane?"

*BONK*

"Fool," Cologne spat. "She is with _Nabiki_."

"Is this a problem?"

"Oh, just check the diner," Cologne growled. "They'll show up there eventually."

The disaster-romance flick ended shortly before Shampoo's already questionable mind could fry from the inaction. Nabiki came out brushing tears away from her face, which held its usual smug expression. Shampoo virtually dragged herself out, fighting yawn and bone-gnawing boredom.

"So Shampoo," Nabiki started as they came into the light. "Why did you want to come along? You could have just bought the ticket for me."

"Three hour," Shampoo mumbled. "Ship sink _three hour_."

"I know that Shampoo," Nabiki said irritably. "What did you want to ask me?"

"Have another favor to ask," Shampoo said groggily.

"Oh, well," Nabiki said cheerfully. "To the office then." She turned in the direction of her favorite diner.

"Talking you very expensive," Shampoo complained as she dragged along behind.

"But I get the job done," Nabiki noted.

By the time they reached the diner most of the numbing effect that the movie had on Shampoo had worn off.

"Just to warn you," Nabiki said as she sat down. "I'll listen to your request, but I think I'm through with doing people favors."

"Why you say that?" Shampoo asked, dismayed. "You still think about _spatula-girl_?"

"She could have been killed," Nabiki shivered. "Or worse. I...underestimated Kuno. I don't want to take that risk again."

"Shampoo want you get rid of Kuno," the amazon said then. Nabiki turned to her intrigued.

"Huh?" then she realized. "Ah, you're thinking that now that Ukyou is out of the way that it's time to go for Kodachi."

"I tell grandma you very smart," Shampoo said proudly. "Crazy-girl very annoying."

"That she is," Nabiki agreed. "I don't think she's much in the way of competition, however. On the other hand, she is rich, beautiful, and if you survive the drugs she can cook pretty good, hmm."

"What you mean?" Shampoo asked darkly.

"Relax, Kitty," Nabiki said calmly. "I'm simply being objective here. She has nothing on you after all."

"Aiya!" Shampoo agreed readily, virtually preening.

"Well getting rid of Kodachi will be a tough one," Nabiki said. "She's as persistent as Tatewaki at times. At least she can admit defeat, though, hmm. Thirty thousand yen should cover it."

"Aiya," Shampoo repeated, in somewhat depressed voice.

"Hey, we're talking about some one that owns a pet alligator here."

"nnnhhh...." Shampoo concentrated hard and then nodded resignedly. "Okay."

"Shampoo!!!!" somebody shouted from the entrance of the diner. 

"Errgg!! Is stupid Mousse," Shampoo growled. Then suddenly something cold and wet splashed her and Shampoo-Neko was sitting in Shampoo's spot on the bench.

"Here, Kitty," Nabiki called. Understanding her plan, the Jusenkyo cursed Amazon bounded under the table and up into Nabiki's lap.

"Shampoo!!! I've come to ask if you would date with me!!" Mousse yelled into Nabiki's face.

"Yo, blind-boy," Nabiki snapped. "Put your glasses back on!" Mousse did so and closely examined the person he was talking to.

"You're not Shampoo," he said unnecessarily. "Hey, that rabbit looks familiar."

"Mousse, why are you here?" Nabiki asked, irritably.

"Cologne said that I might find Shampoo here in the presence of one Nabiki Tendo, but I don't see either here. Have you seen them, Miss Shiratori?"

"I am certainly _not_ Azusa," Nabiki said evenly.

"Really? Who are you then?"

"Why, I'm Nabiki, of course. Perhaps you should get some new glasses, Mousse."

"Nabiki? Then have _you_ seen Shampoo?"

"I saw her earlier," Nabiki admitted. "She paid up some past debts."

"_Shampoo_ owed money to you?" Mousse sounded surprised.

"_Everybody _owes me _something_," Nabiki whispered, conspiratorial. Then she stood up, cradling Shampoo-Neko. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to." She started to walk away. "Oh, by the way, that was an excellent game you played last week."

"Game? Wha-" Mousse blanched.

"The fight after they...'caught' you was even more impressive."

"You know about that?"

"Hmm, yes," Nabiki left him with that before leaving the diner. Mousse never noticed that she had snatched Shampoo's clothes from the bench opposite her seat. Actually, he never even saw the clothes, he saw a colorful smudge that might have been a purse.

Nabiki walked along with Shampoo-Neko unhappily in her arms, until she reached the Tendo dojo.

"Hey Nabiki," Akane waved as her older sister passed. Then she wrinkled her nose. "Why did you bring _her_ over here?" Shampoo-Neko hissed at Akane, who bihhed the cat in return.

"I haven't decided yet," Nabiki answered dryly. Of course she went straight to the bathroom. The girl deposited the cat on the tile with her clothes and filled the bathtub with hot water. "Go ahead and change, I'll wait."

"Why you not just pour hot water on head?" Shampoo asked as soon as she stepped out of the bath. "You do that Airen all the time."

"His clothes stay on him when he changes," Nabiki pointed out.

"Oh," Shampoo paused and rolled her eyes to a corner of the ceiling. "Shampoo ask another favor?"

"Let me guess," Nabiki held up a hand to forestall the Amazon asking the question. "Get rid of Mousse for you?"

"Aiya!" Shampoo nodded once vigorously.

"Fifty thousand yen." Shampoo visibly paled. "Ukyou was and Kodachi is going to be easy compared to _that_."

"Aiya," Shampoo agreed despondently. Then she blinked. "Where is spatula-girl?"

"Ryouga picked her up from the clinic."

"Ohh."

"As long as we're here," Ukyou sighed. "Perhaps we should enjoy it."

"It's harder than it looks," Ryouga told her.

"Hey, we're thousands of miles away from Ranma, Akane, and K- that whole mess," Ukyou noted. "What's not to enjoy?" A car passed through a puddle by the sidewalk they were walking along and splashed the pair.

"Damn insensitive drivers!!!" Ukyou shouted. "Ryouga, could you...." Ukyou looked back and couldn't see the lost boy.

"Kamisama," Ukyou gasped. "He's lost!!" Then she heard an angry bwee and after some difficult neck craning and wheel-chair maneuvering she finally caught sight of a familiar form.

"P-Chan!!!" she shouted. "Ryouga, you're _P-Chan!!"_

"Bwee!!!" The pig fainted.

"Is she gone?" Akane heard the voice emanate from around the corner. She didn't even bother to turn around to face the sound.

"Ranma, you _are _aware that she isn't _really_ a cat, aren't you?"

"Of course I know that," Ranma whined as he stepped out.

"Then why do you faint _every_ time you see Shampoo-Neko?"

"B-b-but," Ranma stuttered. "She's bad enough just being Shampoo!"

"Quiet, Baka," Akane shushed him. "She could hear you."

"And what?" Ranma demanded. Then he continued quietly as Akane stood over his crouched form with a raised mallet. "Hurt the psycho's feelings? Since I've met her, she's tried to kill, drug, attack, and shame us and all our family and friends. She's never taken the least interest in _our_ feelings."

"That's no excuse fo-" Akane was interrupted by two blurs, one black and one white.

"Son, did I just here you refer to you and Akane as 'us'?" Soun inquired.

"You know what this means boy," Genma hinted softly.

"Oh Akane, isn't it wonderful," Kasumi asked sweetly.

"What a beautiful moment," Soun declared, letting loose with the fireworks. "Ranma is finally admitting to himself how he loves Akane."

"Yes, Tendo," Genma agreed. "This is a moment that will live on in my memory forever."

"Oh my, where did they go?" Kasumi asked. The fathers scanned the now couple-less room. "Oh hello, Shampoo, is there anything wrong." They looked to where Shampoo was standing quietly as Nabiki also came into the room.

"No....*sniff*...Shampoo fine....*sniff*...." She walked around the corner toward the front door, stiffly. Genma and Tendo sweatdropped as she disappeared from sight.

"Shampoo-" Nabiki started to follow her.

"WAAAAA!!!!"

*THUD-CRASH* Nabiki flinched as the wall caved in from Shampoo hitting it.

Kodachi examined a table full of various trick clubs and other rhythmic gymnastics props. She looked up for a moment at the next table where they were selling a variety of specially designed robes.

"Excuse me, sir" Kodachi said to the man in front of her. "But you look familiar somehow."

"Kasumi Tendo?" Mousse asked as he turned to face her. "What are you doing at this hidden weapons convention?"

"I am not Miss Tendo," Kodachi protested. "Oh yes, now I remember. You're that blind Chinese peasant that's always after that blue-haired harlot."

"Shampoo is not a harlot, Ukyou!!" Mousse shouted.

"Silly boy," Kodachi laughed. "I am Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose of St. Hebereke High School, not some second rate Okonomiyaki chef!"

"Achoo!!"

"Bless you," Ryouga said, then suddenly he started getting protective. "You're not catching a cold, are you?"

"I don't think so," Ukyou said. "But I might if you don't find a way out of this theme by nightfall." They were walking through an indoor aquarium surrounded, behind the glass, by a variety of sharks, rays and assorted fish.

"Hey, you're not helping any."

"Well, I'm stuck down here in a wheelchair. I can't _see_ past most of this crowd."

"Not that, I mean hold off with the spatulas. Violent maniac." The last was not said quite softly enough.

*CLANG*

"Watch it P-Chan," Ukyou said to the dazed form.

"Oh, you're that insane woman that is chasing that womanizing Saotome," Mousse noted.

"How dare you talk about my darling Ranma like that!!?" Kodachi shouted. "I'm not going to allow some floozy's dog to insult my love like that!"

"'Some floozy?'" Mousse repeated. "You have no room to talk, chasing after a masochistic casanova who avoids you like the plague!!" The pair glared at each other and then stomped off angrily. Neither noticed that one of the booths was apparently manned by classmates of Akane's, or that one of them had a camera and the other had video camcorder.

Nabiki hadn't been able to locate Shampoo since she burst out of the Tendo Dojo. This was decently disturbing, usually Nabiki had no trouble finding anybody. For some reason though, she was having a hard time thinking about anything else.

"Here's the surveillance, chief," Sayuri said as she handed Nabiki an envelope and video cassette.

"Why are we watching Kodachi anyway?" Yuka asked. "It's not like you can tell when she is going to do something."

"Somebody asked me to do them a favor," Nabiki explained sedately.

"Chief, are you all right?" Yuka asked. "You seem a little down."

"I'm a little preoccupied," she told them while flipping through the photographs.

"Preoccupied, you?" Sayuri asked. "I've never even heard of you being distracted."

"What's going on Chief?"

"I've been having a little trou-" Nabiki paused and blinked at the photo in her hands "This is Mousse!"

"It was a hidden weapons convention, chief," Sayuri noted. "He was bound to show up sooner or later."

"Yes, but was he bound to end up in a shouting match with Kodachi?" Nabiki asked. "Hmm." Then her eyes narrowed and she started laughing softly and evilly.

"Um, is this good?" Sayuri asked.

"For who?"

"Hey, did you here?" Sayuri asked excitedly as she ran up to a group of her friends. "One of Ranma's fiancee's gave up on him."

"Really?" Yuka responded from inside the group. "Which one?"

"Ukyou!" Sayuri answered, saying it in disbelief.

"Yeah, I heard about that," a third girl added. "She ran off with Ryouga after he saved her from Kuno."

"Well that makes since," somebody else added, and the gossiping was on in full. The girls had one spectator, a Chinese boy with thick glasses and long hair eating his lunch nearby. "They were always doing things together."

"Yeah, but wasn't that because Ryouga always helps Ukyou with her matchmaking plans? Why would you help someone you love win somebody else's heart?" The Chinese boy perked up at that.

"Oh that was just cover...."

"I think--Achoo!!---that somebody is gossiping about us."

"You kn-kn-kn---Achoo!!!---You know what, I think you're right sugar."

"Couldn't this hap--Achoo!!--pen while we're fighting?"

"Shut--Achoo!!--up and enjoy the view."

"Welcome, Nabiki Tendo," Cologne said without turning her back. "What brings you here?" The middle Tendo smiled confidently as she walked from the Cat Cafe's doorway to the middle of the room. Cologne noted for once that the confidence was a facade, the girl was nervous about something.

"I was hoping to find Shampoo here," Nabiki told her. "She heard something earlier that...upset her."

"And what concern of yours is it if Shampoo is upset?" Cologne asked.

"Unhappy customers don't spend as much money," Nabiki responded glibly. "What else."

"Your greed will be your downfall, girl," the pair were watching each other very closely now. Nabiki smiled, the action held more in common with a predator's glance.

"I don't claim to know more about fighting than you," Nabiki said. "Don't claim to know more about people than me."

"Don't push your luck, girl," Cologne growled. "I've been pulling strings since before you were born." Nabiki smiled again.

"I assume this means that Shampoo isn't here," she decided. "I have no reason to stay here then."

"Stay away from my granddaughter, girl," Cologne commanded her. Nabiki scowled and turned slowly to face Cologne.

"Well that all depends on whether she asks for my services again," Nabiki told her.

Kodachi ran towards the horse, leaped into a handstand. From there she sprung into a reverse double flip, twirled herself length wise three-hundred-sixty degrees and landed.

"OO-hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!" she laughed cheerfully. "Isn't it wonderful my dear Sasuke?"

"What is that Mistress Kodachi?" he asked despondently.

"The freedom," Kodachi responded.

"I see mistress," Sasuke said, yawning. Kodachi backflipped across the small gymnasium her home contained.

"For once, I'm actually having fun training." Sasuke half-glared at her, but ceased soon enough. He didn't see how she could get any decent training without Mas-...Tatewaki Kuno to run the exercises.

"That is good, Mistress Kodachi." She leaped up to the rings and performed a quick series of motions before launching herself over to the parallel bars. She had seen her darling Ranma perform better, but to most people she appeared to be nothing more than a blur.

"...the chef and the vagabond out together on some sort of vacation..."

"Yes, Mistress Kodachi."

"...It'll be boring without my brother around..."

"Yes, Mistress Koda-" Sasuke paused, blinked and then smiled.

"...but otherwise, everything is going my way, soon I'll shall be my darling Ranma's one true love. Then we shall live on to dignified old age as Lord and Lady of the Kuno fortunes."

"Oh, definitely, Mistress Kodachi," Sasuke answered a deal more cheerfully than he had been. Then he started to edge out of the practice room. "If you'll excuse me, Mistress Kodachi, I have some errands I need to run."

"Oh, I don't care," Kodachi said, waving him off as she performed a standing forward flip. "In fact, I have something that I need to do myself."

"Thank you Mistress Kodachi, I'll be off now," Sasuke was gone in the next moment.

Only a few minutes later Kodachi was leaping across rooftops cackling away with more than her usual insane glee.

"OO-hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! Oh my darling Ranma, how can anything go wrong now. All that remains between me and you, oh my truest love, is that blue-haired hussy and your so-called fiancee, Akane Tendo."

"Hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm!!" Kodachi stopped as she heard the low, sinister laughter.

"Oh," Kodachi said flatly. "It's you."

"Do you really think you'll succeed in acquiring your Ranma-darling's love merely because you've been having a lucky streak."

"No, I expect him to fall in love with me because I am obviously the best choice for him. And I suppose you expect that air-headed floozy would pick a spineless moron like you over a peerless-warrior like my Ranma-darling."

"Point taken," Mousse said after a moment's angry thought. "But perhaps if we pool our resources...."

"Hmm, intriguing," Kodachi said, rubbing her chin. "You get your floozy."

"And you get your jerk," Mousse tossed in.

"OO-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"

"Hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmh!!!"

The pair stopped laughing and stared at each other in mild shock and surprise, and then each went back to their own variation of the insane laugh.

"Ah ha," Nabiki declared as she climbed up to the rooftop Shampoo had chosen. "I found you."

"Xie Xie," Shampoo said glumly.

"What are you doing up here anyway?" Nabiki asked as she sat down next to the glum amazon. Shampoo pointed out away from the building and Nabiki saw Ranma and Akane sitting at a window seat in the restaurant across the street. They were laughing and generally relaxing away from the prying of their parents and friends.

"Oh...Shampoo," Nabiki started gently. "Watching Ranma and my sister get along isn't really the healthiest activity you could be doing."

"Airen think Shampoo psycho," Shampoo sniffed.

"Oh don't worry about that," Nabiki said gently, a depressed customer was not good. "He calls Akane a violent maniac all the time, and they..." Shampoo looked at Nabiki, stricken. Suddenly Nabiki was thinking, "Oops....that was the wrong track."

"Money-girl saying Ranma really love violent-girl?" Shampoo asked, sniffing.

"Now, I don't know that," Nabiki said desperately. It seemed that she was losing her touch somewhat recently, especially around Shampoo. "I just know that they really get along despite all the..."

"WAAA!!!" Shampoo started wailing and Nabiki quickly moved to try to comfort her.

"Oh, calm down," Nabiki said quietly, patting the Amazon on the back and letting Shampoo cry on her shoulder. "They haven't made any real commitment to each other, you have plenty of chances left."

"*sniff* really?" Shampoo asked looking up into Nabiki's face.

"Hey, would I lie to you, Kitty," Nabiki asked, looking back and brushing back some stray locks of blue hair from Shampoo's face.

"Aiya!" Shampoo virtually glomped Nabiki, the brown-haired girl patted her on the back and smiled in relief. Then both blinked and scuttled away from each other about a foot. 

"By the way, I've started on the two favors you asked me about," expertly reclaiming her professional tone.

"Really?" Shampoo asked, in a neutral, curious tone. "What you doing?"

Nabiki merely smiled and snickered.

"So your saying that Shampoo has to marry the man that beats her in combat?"

"Yeah, and she was beaten by Saotome twice," Mousse confirmed.

"Then why, pray tell, haven't you beaten her yet?" Kodachi asked.

"I can't _really_ fight her," Mousse said aghast. "She might get hurt."

"You think that she is really so weak as that?" Kodachi hmphed. "And yet you let her treat you like dirt? No wonder she dislikes you, what kind of woman goes for a doormat?"

"As if a Borgia-reincarnate is anything _anybody _wants to mess with."

"It appears quite simple then," Kodachi trilled her words. "All we have to do is give you some backbone."

"And maybe convince you to stop tossing around paralyzation powders," Mousse suggested. Kodachi almost seemed to get paler than her normal unhealthy shade. "Anything wrong with that?" He asked curiously.

"I..." Kodachi faltered. "...You are absolutely positive this will help me win Ranma-darling?"

"It will at least be a large step in the right direction," Mousse noted. Kodachi produced a small packet from somewhere inside her brown school-girl's outfit. She started to set it aside and her hand started shaking. "Are you all right?" Mousse asked for the second time.

Kodachi closed her eyes and sighed once before whispering in a voice that Mousse could barely hear. He only caught "...gone," before Kodachi seemed gain some willpower and set the packet down.

"That was easy," she said and drew out about five more similar packets. She hesitated setting down the last one and replaced it somewhere. "Just in case." She said it by way of explanation, but whether the explanation was to herself or Mousse, the boy could not tell.

"Well, I guess it's a start," Mousse said. Kodachi turned to look at him, and the gleam in her eye made the master of dark magic more than a little nervous.

"And now, we start with you," Kodachi hummed softly to herself.

"W-w-what do you mean?" he asked nervously. "What can you tell me about being presentable."

"Well there is _that_ in the first place," Kodachi noted. "How can you be such a doormat and at the same time be so insulting?"

"Insulting?" Mousse nearly shouted. "How dare you call _me_ insulting?"

"I request that you remember that I am of the samurai caste," Kodachi told him in a soft dignified manner. "And that you treat me with the respect I am due."

"I-I-I beg your forgiveness," Mousse stammered, kowtowing.

"That is exactly what I'm talking about," Kodachi declared as she walked about the virtually prone Mousse. "Hmmm, I think this may take some time."

"You want me to do what?" the speaker on the other of the phone asked. "And you are willing to pay for this?"

"Name your price," Sasuke stated.

"Oh, that is very simple," the other answered. "I merely want another shot at _him_. What else does anybody want?"

"Hmm, oh yes, that is a very good point, and very easily obtained. After the job though, we don't want anybody to know you are there."

"So I'm supposed to sneak in past _her _eyes as well?"

"I think she has been distracted of late," Sasuke told him. "It should be relatively easy to enter the city without her knowing it."

"Well then, whoever you are, you've hired me."

"Very good, I hope my master will be pleased with your results."

"I've never failed professionally," he responded. ""And only once in a personal matter."

[The Amazon and the Moneylender Contents][1]

[Part 3][2]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/aatm.html
   [2]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/shamnabi3.html



	3. Mousse and Kodachi's first plan.

The Amazon and the Moneylender, Episode 3

"By the time we get home," Ukyou said resignedly. "I'll be walking again." She yawned as the terrain crawled past. They were still somewhere in Texas, at least Ukyou hoped they were. The comment had not been merely idle sarcasm. It had been a week since Ryouga had wheeled her out of Dr. Tofu's.

"Ukyou, I've been thinking," Ryouga said. "You could use a chi-attack of some kind."

"Are you saying I'm a weak martial artist?" Ukyou hefted her spatula and narrowed her eyes.

"Huh?" It was the wrong response.

*CLANG*

"OWW!" Ryouga shouted. "What did you hit me for?!"

"You said I was a weak martial artist!! Baka!!!"

"All I said was that you haven't developed a new attack since I've known you!!" Ryouga shouted, rubbing his head. "Even Ranma can admit he needs to train once in a while!!"

"Hey! I've been helping you win Akane's love," Ukyou protested. "I haven't had much time for training."

"Well we have plenty of time now," Ryouga told her. Ukyou didn't really like the sound of that.

"And how do you propose that I do that for the remaining week I'm stuck in this wheelchair."

"That's why I was thinking chi channeling."

"But all the chi channeling we know of requires some extreme emotion or another," Ukyou noted.

"Control-freak, maybe?" Ryouga mumbled quietly in Russian.

"What did you say?" Ukyou asked curiously.

"I said 'How about your devotion to perfection?'"

"Akane Tendo I have come to..." Kodachi's loud declaration was cut off as something struck her lightly in the side. She glared to the bushes at her left and then straightened up.

"Kodachi!!" Akane said. She set down her bag and entered stance. "Okay come on then!! We owe your family a few lumps anyway."

"Careful, Akane," Ranma warned her unnecessarily.

"Miss Tendo," Kodachi said tightly, glancing off to the left with narrowed eyes. "I want to apologize for my earlier behavior. I have been a pest to you and Ranma-Darling, and wish to make amends."

Akane blinked.

Ranma blinked.

"And how would _you_ do that?" Akane asked in suspicious disbelief. "I suppose you'll cook up some amnesia drug to feed me."

"Hmm. Oww!" Kodachi rubbed her side again and looked down at the rubber band.

"Shampoo already tried that," Ranma noted.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Akane said, completely missing the irony of the statement.

"Really, Miss Tendo, surely we can compete in a more mature manner," Kodachi breathed in deeply. "...than...silly...chemical concoctions. I'm confident that my darling Ranma will eventually realize that I am the logical choice without resorting to such childish deeds." She glanced to the bushes and growled softly. "Satisfied?"

"Don't talk to me you idiot!" the whispered response came. Ranma and Akane glanced at each other and sighed.

"Ryouga and Ukyou are much better at this," Ranma told Kodachi.

"What ever could you mean, Ranma-Darling?" Kodachi asked sweetly.

"Later Mousse," Akane waved at the bushes and turned around to leave. "Nice...not fighting you...Kodachi."

"Yeah, this has definitely been the least frustrating encounter I've had with you," Ranma agreed as he followed Akane away.

"Well, that didn't work," Kodachi declared angrily.

"Hmhmhmhmhmhmhm," Mousse chuckled evilly to himself. "It worked better than it would seem, Saotome did not respond to you with disgust this time."

*THWACK*

Mousse fell backwards with the imprint of a gymnastic club on his face.

"Did you just call me disgusting?!"

"Ugh, when did Shampoo get here?" Mousse groaned.

*THWACK*

"We'll get to your problems later!! They dismissed me!"

"Uggh...."

"WAKE-UP!!!" Kodachi tried to slap the dazed martial artist awake and Mousse grabbed at the hand as he came to.

"What happened?" he asked, and then caught a glance of Kodachi's hands. "Kodachi, you don't have any lines on your palm."

"A training accident!!" She pulled her hand away. "Not that it is any business of yours."

"And what training strips the lines off your palm?" he asked. He caught a shadow of revulsion and shame in her eyes.

"I can't remember the exact exercise," Kodachi snapped.

"And why do you always wear clothes that cover up most off your body? I've never seen you in short sleeves or skirts, and you always wear your leotard underneath."

"And wear such peasant fashions? Really."

"There is something odd here."

"Oh, what does that matter," Kodachi said trying to dismiss his suspicions, then she smiled evilly. "Now it is my turn to play set-up." Mousse swallowed hard.

"Hey, isn't that Ukyou?" Sayuri asked out of the blue. Yuka looked over as she tried to draw the remains of her soda through the star.

"It looks like it," Yuka agreed. At the next table, Hiroshi and Daisuke also turned their attention to the returned chef. The seeming Ukyou turned around a corner and vanished in the crowd.

"I thought she was out with Ryouga," Hiroshi said. "That was supposed to be the longest date ever."

"Yeah, lost that bet, apparently," Daisuke commented. Yuka and Sayuri glared at the boys.

"I wonder where Ryouga got to," Sayuri pondered that while Yuka walked to a pay phone.

"She was walking? You're certain it was her?" Nabiki asked Yuka on the other end.

"Big spatula, chef's outfit, who else could it be?"

"Hmmm, that is somewhat odd," Nabiki leaned back against the wall and brought her hand to her chin. "Check by Ucchan's if you can, and listen for any reports of heavy property damage in case Ryouga is around as well."

"What's up chief?" Yuka asked.

"I don't know yet, but something strange is going on."

"Gotcha, later chief," Yuka hung up and Nabiki snapped her portable phone closed. Nabiki had seen the injuries Ukyou had sustained. Even Ranma would have still been out of commission at this point. This did not add up to anything that made sense.

Nabiki looked up as Ranma and Akane walked into the door.

"You'd never guess what just happened to us," Ranma said in amusement.

"Have you two seen Ukyou or Ryouga recently?" Nabiki asked

"Well a post card came in the mail today," Akane said. "They're somewhere in Texas." Nabiki sprung away from the wall, no longer merely suspicious.

"Hey I didn't see that," Ranma noted.

"Do you know when it was sent," Nabiki asked seriously.

"Why?" Akane looked at her curiously as she walked to the desk in the entrance hall.

"What's up Nabiki?" Ranma demanded. Akane dug the postcard out of the desk and looked at it. It was one of those custom jobs made from a photo scanned into a computer. It showed Ukyou in her wheel chair her cast carpeted in signatures. Behind them was giant stadium of some sort. Ukyou was garbed in a variety of souvenir clothing and waving cheerfully with the hand that wasn't in a sling. Ryouga was standing behind her standing in the middle of a small pile of bags looking rather embarrassed. There was a ball-cap with pig-ears on his head.

Nabiki and Ranma took a quick look at the post card and burst out in near hysterical laughter. Akane looked at them in confusion.

"What's so funny," Akane asked, looking back at the postcard curiously.

"Inside joke Akane," Nabiki said as she examined the card a little closely. She pointed to the marquis. "Hmm, this game was just a couple of days ago."

"So if this is Ukyou," Akane said, glaring at the still hysterical Ranma. "Who's downtown?"

Shampoo checked the clock again and yawned. She would have expected Mousse to have shown up by now. Especially since Nabiki had told her a little of the plan to get them out of her life. As usual, Shampoo thought that Nabiki's plan was slightly risky. She had been watching everything placed before her with a paranoia that rivaled that of an American in the same room as an IRS agent.

"Who know what nasty drug crazy-girl use on me," Shampoo muttered.

"What is wrong Shampoo?" Cologne asked with a mixture of suspicion and concern.

"Crazy-girl and Mousse team up," Shampoo explained.

"And who gave them that idea?" the withered old crone asked.

"Nabiki," Shampoo said idly. "Plan matchmake them out of Shampoo life."

"Kodachi Kuno and Mousse?" Cologne thought for a moment. "They have similar styles of fighting at least. All those tricks up their sleeves. Still, I do not want you seeing that Tendo girl anymore."

"Why you say that?" Shampoo asked. "She do good work."

"There is something going on here that is..." Cologne paused and looked out the door. "...odd." Kodachi walked into the restaurant.

"Oh my, how quaint," she laughed quietly. "This really a very charming establishment that you are running here. I can somewhat see what Ranma-Da....Ranma thought made this place worth coming to."

"Go away crazy-girl," Shampoo snapped. "Kuno no welcome here."

"Oh please," Kodachi half-laughed. "I don't approve of my brother's actions either. He has brought shame to family name."

"What do you want, Miss Kuno," Cologne asked in that polite sarcasm she used so often. "Actually I was looking for Mousse. I think some of our purchases at the...convention may have been switched. I do so dislike wearing such impairing clothing."

"No see Mousse for twenty minutes," Shampoo said without inflection.

"What?!" Kodachi shouted. "He's not here!? And after..." Kodachi glanced at Ukyou and Cologne and continued at a much more sedate pace of speech. "I mean....I need those bags for an upcoming gymnastics tournament."

"The boy took out a delivery," Cologne said. "He should be back within an hour."

"Oh, I see," Kodachi saunded annoyed. "Then perhaps I'll have the Ramen special."

"Stay away from kitchen," Shampoo ordered her.

"Really, Shampoo. As I just explained to Akane, I've moved beyond such silly artificial methods." Despite this the gymnast did sit down in the middle of the room.

"Whatever."

Mousse had only been here once or twice before, he had briefly considered partnering with Kuno to get rid of Ranma. Fortunately he decided that would probably be more difficult than it was worth and instead joined with Ryouga. Because of those early excursions to investigate the Kunos, he had a fair idea of where he needed to look. 

The young man was surprisingly stealthy for one almost totally blind. The master of dark magic even managed to avoid the questionably observant Sasuke. He knew from experience that Kodachi's part of the house was even more heavily booby trapped than all the rest of the place. Fortunately he wasn't going to Kodachi's residential area.

The chambers that formerly belonged to Tatewaki Kuno were sparsely furnished. Everything that was there maintained a traditional style that would have fit into a Kurosawa film. On the surface it seemed the Kuno was not a man for modern enhancements. Mousse knew differently, however, it took very little searching to find the catch again. Then suddenly Kuno's collection of samurai flicks and training documentation videos.

The big screen TV conflicted almost blasphemously with the surrounding decor. It wasn't so much the presence of the video equipment among the traditional decorations, as it was that the item was hidden. There was an innate hypocrisy that lay about the room and engendered a level of disgust in everybody who came into it.

Mousse scanned the titles, squinting and leaning in close to make out the words. He didn't know quite what he was looking for, but he felt it would jump out at him. It didn't take him long to find a series of tapes that apparently catalogued Kodachi's training. The tapes seemed to extend over a period of three years, ending shortly before Ranma arrived in Nerima.

Looking at them closely he found time gaps of varying lengths in record. These gaps ranged from one week to a full month. Playing a hunch he picked one of the tapes that recorded the time immediately before one of those gaps. He checked the date and calculated that Kodachi would have been about thirteen at the time. Turning on the television and muting the volume, he placed the tape in the attached VCR.

As the video played out his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Ancestors," he gasped in shock. He stopped the tape, rewound it and snatched a few more of the tapes for the few seconds it was rewinding. Stuffing these up his sleeves into hidden pockets somewhere he immediately set about to leave the Kuno estate. 

It wasn't long after he had left that Sasuke entered Tatewaki's chamber. The ninja immediately noticed that the television was on. He didn't know who had been there, but he had a number of suspicions. 

He had been hiding information about Kuno from his clan superiors for a while now. Perhaps they had discovered Sasuke's plan to free his Master. He thought the better of that though, if they had discovered him, then he would have already learned about it. He wouldn't be nearly so active either.

"But what were they doing _here_?" Sasuke wondered.

"Mousse wander again," Shampoo noted angrily. "He stand you up."

"Stand me..." Kodachi started. "OO-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! What interest would I have in such a spineless little man? How would I expect _that_ fool to protect me." The thoughts running through her mind were something like this. "I am going to kill him! As soon as I find him, I am going to kill him!! Snap _me_ with rubber bands like he was dealing with a child while he disappears for his humiliation!!"

"Don't ask Shampoo what Shampoo don't understand."

"I didn't know that you understood anything," Kodachi said with her usual mock cheerfulness. Shampoo glared at her.

"Well, would you mind telling your visually challenged friend that I want my things as soon as possible?" Kodachi asked formally. "I have other errands I need to run." In her head the word "kill" was being repeated over and over again with variations, such as "stone dead," interspersed liberally.

"Yeah, yeah," Shampoo dismissed her with a wave.

"Don't worry about it girl," Cologne chuckled. "I'll be sure that he gets the message."

Mousse didn't have much trouble deciding what to do with the tapes. He went directly to the Tendo dojo. Mousse reached there about the same time the occupants were realizing the existence of a second Ukyou.

"Mousse?" Akane said in surprise as she answered the knock on the door. "What are you doing here?" Then she and Ranma narrowed their eyes.

"Or is this part of your and Kodachi's plan?"

"Not now, Saotome," Mousse said in annoyance.

"Whoa, this must be serious," Ranma declared. "He actually recognized me."

"Kasumi," Mousse ignored Ranma. "I was looking for your sister Nabiki."

"I am Nabiki, Kasumi is shopping," the middle Tendo said irritably. "We already have problems at the moment Mousse, what do you need?"

"I need you to see these tapes," Mousse said, producing the tapes he had pilfered from Kuno's room. Nabiki irritably took one and wondered into the living room.

"What are those?" Akane asked, Mousse handed one each to Ranma and Akane. "Kodachi's training tapes?" Nabiki popped one into the VCR and it instantly started playing.

"I can't do it!!" it was a much younger Kodachi on the film cradling her hands and cowering on the floor while her brother stood over her.

"You are allowing yourself to be distracted!" the voice was Kuno's. "Do it again!!! Now!!"

"But the bar is too hot!! It hurts!" Kodachi pleaded. The Kuno on the picture kicked his foot into his dear sister's face.

"Kamisama," Akane whispered. "What was there father doing during all of this?"

"Hawaii," Nabiki noted grimly.

"I said do it again!!" Kuno shouted. "Get up now and do it again." The young Kodachi struggled to her feet and walked to the end of a mat. She glanced at her brother and then at the red hot set of uneven bars she was about to run for.

"Kuno must read the same books as my old man," Ranma noted bitterly. They continued watching the tape, it was like passing an accident. You couldn't help but watch in morbid fascination, all the while thanking the heavens that it wasn't you.

"Master Kuno," Sasuke's voice came from off camera. "Perhaps you should find another way to train her."

"Silence, my good Sasuke," the samurai ordered, his tone was much more civil to the ninja than it had been to his sister. "This is the only way. Now!! Do it again!! And don't let go this time!"

Kodachi hesitated only a moment in anticipation of pain before launching herself at the uneven bars. She leaped up and grabbed the bars with a sharp cry of pain, making it through four changeovers before she released the bars and fell ungracefully to the ground.

"No!! It has to be perfect!!" Kuno shouted, kicking the already pained girl as she huddled against herself. "Under all circumstances, perf-" Nabiki stopped the tape and ejected it with a look of disgust.

"But we saw her use Kuno as a weapon against Ranma!" Akane protested.

"I'll bet she regained some confidence about the same time she started using paralyzation drugs," Nabiki noted.

"She didn't like getting rid of them," Mousse agreed. Then he gasped and stood up suddenly. "I uh, forgot, I'm supposed to be meeting.....someone."

"Really," Nabiki said, managing a little sarcasm despite her attitude. "I wonder who."

"Wait a minute, Kuno, that's what's going on!" Ranma shouted. Akane and Nabiki looked at him and then realized what he was talking about. Nabiki was mildly annoyed that he had thought of it first.

"The second Ukyou," both Tendos and Ranma said in unison.

"Somebody is going to drop Ukyou's charges against Kuno!"

"So you see officer it was all just a big misunderstanding," Faux-Ukyou told the cop. "We were just sparring and some of my friends overreacted."

"And it took you a week to report this," the cop said, suspicious.

"I wasn't aware that he had been arrested until yesterday," Faux-Ukyou smiled. "I've been visiting family."

"Miss Kuonji," the cop said, resigned. "If you're afraid that he won't be convicted. This isn't the United States."

"Kuno is generally regarded as the weakest warrior in Nerima," Faux-Ukyou said sarcastically. "He's a jerk, but virtually all of us can beat him into a pulp when we want to."

"I see," the cop said. "Well I don't see where we have any choice then. Tatewaki Kuno is free to go."

"Good I wouldn't want him in there because of some over-concerned friends," the chef said. "Catch you later." The fake turned around and started to leave, an evil smile formed on the female lips.

It wasn't much later that a limping and still heavily bandaged Kuno shambled out of the police station. The swordsman wore an arrogant and triumphant smile as he took in the fresh air. He was a mile down the road when he saw what at first looked like Ukyou leaning against a wall down an Alley.

"Be you the true Ukyou or are you yet another vile minion of the sorcerer Hibiki?"

"I'm the guy that was hired to get you out of there," the fake Ukyou passed a large black handkerchief past herself and suddenly a skinny boy in a white t-shirt and pants with suspenders was standing there.

"Copycat Ken," Kuno said in arrogant recognition. "Who hired you?"

"Your ninja, obviously," Ken answered. "I just wanted to make sure you knew what the price was before we have a problem."

"And what was the price?" Kuno asked. "Surely you know that all my money has been taken away."

"Oh that's all right sammie," Ken smirked. "The price was another shot Ranma Saotome."

"You think that a pale imitation such as you can handle the sorcerer Saotome?" Kuno laughed. "Go ahead and try, he shall still be here for me to smite."

"That is all I wanted to hear," Ken smiled. "Later sammie-boy."

"Why is it you keep calling me sammie?" Kuno asked.

"Well, oh great samurai, figure it out for yourself, the boy started to leap upwards.

"Halt!!" Kuno commanded. "Perhaps you can help in another matter as well."

"This isn't working Ryouga," Ukyou said despondently. "I just can't train while I'm stuck in this thing." She thumped the wheelchair angrily.

"Try to calm down Ukyou," Ryouga said, trying to be soothing.

"In a couple of weeks I'll be able to learn a few more tricks. Right now I just want to go home." She said it without yelling this time.

"Yeah me too," Ryouga agreed. "But it's not that easy to get back."

"Can you stop at the next phone we find?" Ukyou asked.

"Huh, sure," Ryouga said. He scanned about and saw a pay phone near one of the park's restrooms. "Why?" 

"How much money do we have left?" Ukyou asked as Ryouga wheeled her over to the phone. The lost-boy set down the various bags and slipped off his backpack. For once Ukyou watched as he dug through looking for some American currency. After the camping equipment was out the way Ryouga started producing small bundles of colored paper.

"I can't find any dollars in here," Ryouga muttered as he dropped an inch thick bundle of small plastic cards. Ukyou's eyes widened and she blinked as Ryouga continued to search. "I've never had to spend this much before."

"Uhm Ryouga, where do you get all this money?" Ukyou asked.

"One of my ancestors was in Italy and saved some guy's life, Megaci, Medachi,"

"Medici?" Ukyou asked dumbfounded. 

"Yeah that was it," Ryouga said. "Any way that guy gave my ancestor some money."

"That doesn't explain why _you_ have so much money."

"Well, apparently we haven't used it all yet," Ryouga told her as he continued to look through his backpack.

"How long ago was this?" Ukyou blinked as Ryouga examined a large ring of silvery metal with what looked like Caesar's head on it.

"What country is this?" Ryouga asked himself, then he turned to answer Ukyou's question. As he did so he tossed the coin over to his shoulder eliciting a near heart attack from Ukyou. "Oh it was about eleven hundred years ago."

"And you haven't used it up yet!"

"I remember hearing something like 'most Hibiki lifetime expenditures being less than half quarterly accumulated interest' or something like that." Ryouga shrugged and continued his search

"Uh," Ukyou nodded blankly.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any more American currency," Ryouga told her. "Well, except this old coin." Ryouga held up a small piece of metal with a picture of a buffalo on it. He tossed it in the same direction as the other coin.

"Never mind Ryouga, I think we can cover it."

"Cover what?"

"We're going to call a taxi, sugar." Ryouga blinked.

"Never thought of that," he said.

"Oh, and Ryouga," Ukyou said sweetly.

"What?" Ryouga asked suspiciously.

"Go back and pick up those coins you threw away," Ukyou blinked cutely. "Please..."

"Where Mousse go two hour!!" Shampoo snapped as Mousse entered the Cat Cafe.

"I was delayed," Mousse protested angrily. "Something important came up."

"We had a rush while you were out boy," Cologne told him. "What was so important that you had to leave us in the lurch?"

"Uh, did Kodachi come by?" he asked looking about the cafe.

"Crazy-girl here then gone," Shampoo answered as she carried an order to a customer.

"She _was_ here, then?" Mousse asked. He thought something much different, "She's going to kill me."

"The girl left fairly upset," Cologne told him. "Perhaps you should bring her the items she purchased at the convention. She seemed quite eager to have them." Mousse nodded nervously and started to turn back out the door.

"Go bother crazy-girl," Shampoo told him irritably. The leaving Mousse turned a moment to address he.

"Don't judge so quickly," he insisted before leaving.

"Hello, _dear_ sister." Kodachi's blood chilled at the sound of that voice. She stopped and turned to look down the hall at her brother, standing there with his bokken. She had a single packet of paralyzation powder.

"Why, brother-_dear_," she answered firmly and coldly. "How, pray tell, did you get out of jail?" She thought back to Sasuke and his "errands."

"The unjust-charges laid against me by my enemies were dropped," he answered, smiling. "I was hoping that you had something to do with that."

"We had our last agreement in my match against that brazen redhead you are so fond of," Kodachi reminded him, backing a step off. Kodachi was not really up to Ukyou's level of skill, but she had much more experience with her brother. Tatewaki was not going to catch _her_ by surprise.

"That is unfortunate," Kuno said, bringing his bokken down from his shoulder. "Perhaps I should not have let you end our training so quickly."

"You don't scare me anymore, brother-_dear_," Kodachi asserted, knowing that it was a lie as she said it.

"We'll see about that," Kuno said grimly. He charged forward into a cloud of powder, immediately his muscles seized up and he toppled over, unable to move. His muscles didn't even let up for gravity, he merely lay on his side looking like a toppled statue.

"Well, brother-_dear_," Kodachi said smugly. She then started kicking the motionless samurai. With each word she kicked him again. "It. Seems. That. You. Have. Not. Quite. Achieved. Per. Fec. Tion." The powder didn't let the samurai make anything more than minimal facial gestures, but it was obvious he was feeling the kicks.

"OO-hahahahahahahahahahha," Kodachi asked, then she set her foot back in preparation for a stronger kick. "You didn't really think I'd let you fight me? Did youuu...." something snared her foot as it left the ground and pulled back. Kodachi fell face first to the floor and had to shake her head clear.

"Ah ah ah," she heard Sasuke admonishing her. "You should know your place better than that Mistress Kodachi."

"ERRRAAHHH!!" Kodachi shrieked angrily. "Unhand me you dwarf!!" She grabbed the string tied to her leg and jerked it, swinging the little man over her head and into a wall. Unfortunately, Sasuke had experienced this tactic before, facing Ranma. The little ninja let go of the rope and twisted about so that he could bounce off the wall and land lightly on his feet next to Kuno.

"Forgive me, Mistress Kodachi," Sasuke requested. "But you know that I must serve my master first."

"It does not surprise me in the least," Kodachi hissed, whipping the confiscated lasso out to snatch a chair from a room down the hall. The cramped area made it difficult to fully utilize the weapon as she was used to, and Sasuke easily avoided the attack. As the ninja rolled by the paralyzed Kuno a second powder cloud formed. Kodachi had a nasty suspicion that it was something to counteract her poison.

She saw Sasuke run into the wall and her brother starting to stretch. Then she was bolting down the hall toward her living area. Kodachi passed cautiously, knowing where all the booby traps were. Obviously this included her own additions as well. She could hold off the two of them a long time from her room and connecting gym.

She closed and locked her door behind her and turned around to look at the room. She took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief before the sound of clapping hands came to her attention.

"Very good, sister," it was her brother's voice again. "I didn't think you would make it here." The second Kuno charged forward, stiffly, but with great technical skill. Kodachi leaped over him easily and ran into the gym, snatching a ribbon as she did. It didn't take Kodachi but a moment to determine that her opponent was not fighting to full strength. This was really her brother.

"Come on then, brother-_dear_," Kodachi challenged, trying to sound confident. "Let's see who trains who _this_ time."

"Well, that girl packs quite a punch," Kuno-Ken said as he stretched out the final effects of the paralyzation powder.

"Yes, she is much more skilled than you would first think," Sasuke agreed. "Now we must hurry to help the master in fighting her."

"And what are you two doing here?" somebody shouted behind them. They turned to see an angry Mousse looking at them from the doorway.

"This is private property," Sasuke told him. "I would suggest you leave."

"Hmhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm," Mouse laughed evilly. "I don't know what you and Sanzenin are doing here, Tsubasa, but I know that you have no authority to be here."

"Well, well, if it isn't duck-boy," Kuno-Ken said, smiling and laughing a full Kuno laugh. "Come on then you pitiful stage magician, see if your silly tricks can match with the swiftness of the mighty Kuno's blade."

"Kuno!!" Mousse said surprised. "But you're in jail."

"That mistake has been corrected," Kuno-Ken declared. "Those fools knew that they could not rightfully hold the noble and righteous Kuno."

"It doesn't really matter," Mousse decided. "I can handle you myself this way."

"We shall see," Kuno-Ken launched forward with a series of da-da-da's which were interrupted by the sudden appearance of an entangling chain. Mousse pulled forward launching Kuno into a short flight. Surprisingly the swordsman used the momentum to his own advantage letting carry him into a spinning roundhouse that slammed Mousse into the wall.

Sliding the sword out of the now loose chain, Kuno-Ken slashed forward at the stunned Chinese fighter. Mousse barely rose a chain length to block the attack in time. Then he rolled out of the way of another spinning strike using the momentum of the reflected first strike. Sasuke tried to find someway to get into the fight, but couldn't get past Kuno-Ken in the narrow hallway.

Mousse produced a pair of bladed gloves from somewhere under his robes and slashed in from either side. Kuno-Ken blocked with his bokken catching between the claws. Mousse lifted up and threw the samurai through the wall. Then, suddenly, they were in the Kuno courtyard. Sasuke gleefully followed behind them and started manning the various levers hidden about the estate.

"Now we're in _my_ element," Mousse declared brashly. He rose a chicken above his head and collected the eggs that it laid seemingly at his mental command. He leaped into the air and threw the eggs at Kuno. The swordsman was obscured in a cloud of fire and smoke. When it cleared Ryouga was standing there behind his umbrella.

"Well, I forgot to mention something," Ryouga-Ken said. "Everywhere is my element!" he shouted as he tossed bandanas in a swarm at the descending Mousse who responded with equally large swarm of knives. Then both were dodging a third swarm of booby trap propelled javelins.

The ribbon wrapped around the bokken Kuno had raised before it. Kodachi whipped back, attempting to take the weapon out of her brother's hand. Of course Kuno didn't relinquish his grip on the weapon, and so he let himself be pulled forward along with the bokken. Kodachi didn't care, Tatewaki was her original target anyway. If he wanted to negate his block it was fine with her. A flip of her wrist and the ribbon released its hold on her brother's weapon.

"AAAAHHH!!!!" Kuno shouted as he flew through the air in an uncontrolled arc. He stood up deliberately soon after crashing into the wall. "You still think that you are a martial artist?" He laughed.

"You haven't gotten near me yet, brother-_dear_," Kodachi noted. "And you won't." She was not nearly as confident as she sounded, she knew about Ukyou. She also knew, despite anything she said, that Ukyou was better than she was. 

Kodachi's martial training had been worked into her gymnastics training underneath her brother's nose. That combined with her chemical experimentations had finally allowed her to force some breathing room away from him.

As Kuno charged in again, Kodachi flipped and tumbled away. This time she snapped a razor hoop off one of the racks and tossed it towards her brother. As the first flew towards its target she tossed a second and then was moving again. She whipped her ribbon up and caught one of the upper beams and swung herself up off the ground.

"Where's your powder, _dear_-sister?" Kuno asked as he dodged under the first hoop and slipped his blade into the center of the second. Whipping the bokken against the blunt inner edge of the hoop, he redirected the hoop's path through the extended ribbon. "Did you perchance waste it on that villain Saotome?" Kodachi landed relatively gracefully considering the severed ribbon, but still had to take a few extra steps to regain her balance.

Sasukeslumped unconscious against a tree, while Mousse and Ken exchanged fire. Both the martial artists had gotten tired of dodging javelins, giant marbles, and other assorted booby trap weapons. This had produced a brief alliance involving each of them taking a shot at the unsuspecting ninja.

At the moment Ken was wearing Ranma's form and infuriating Mousse with a number of Ranmaesque insults. The mimic did not like the way that the battle was going. He was going to win, but it would be a long difficult match. He wanted to be fresh for Saotome, and already that would require a deal of rest. Suddenly he whipped the kerchief across his form and then Shampoo was standing in the fight.

"Mousse no hurt Shampoo?" Shampoo-Ken asked as she hurled a bonbori at the nearsighted martial artist. Mousse dodged aside, but didn't hesitate in moving forward with those claw gloves he seemed to have an endless supply of. Surprised by the reaction, Ken was unprepared.

"Nice try, Ken," Mousse commented slashing downward, and then sweeping the false Shampoo-Ken's feet out from under her. The mimic kippuped back to her feet and then leaped back from Mousse. The kerchief came out again and he was then fighting Happosai.

"Well, sonny boy, this is taking more effort than I thought it would." the troll-Ken said. "You can keep fighting me, or you can go back and stop Kuno from giving his sister a lesson in loyalty." Mousse hesitated, narrowed his eyes and turned toward the house.

"I'll see you again, Ken," he promised as he ran into the house.

"How I love the male insistence on saving the damsel in distress," Ken laughed. "Well cheerio folks, I have a Ranma to destroy." The troll-Ken bounced away cackling gleefully.

A mini-club bounced off of Kuno's head, distracting him for a moment and opening the way for the last three clubs. The first clubs of Kodachi's volley had all been deflected or sliced before getting within three feet of the swordsman. Kodachi performed a double back flip away from her brother and grimly clutched her full-sized trick clubs.

"If you are going to fight, _dear_ sister," Kuno said as he recovered from the hits. "You should perform up to the standards of the Kuno name. This has barely tested my abilities at all." He calmly strode forward slowly, standing straight.

"You haven't touched me yet," Kodachi insisted, taking a step back.

"Even Ukyou's copy managed to split my consciousness from my body for breath or two," Kuno swung in with his blade and connected with a spike-covered club. "All you have managed is a few lucky shots." He twisted his blade and the club was pulled from Kodachi's grip and embedded into the wall.

"I'm not scared of you," Kodachi hissed, attacking with her club. The bokken swished across lazily and disarmed Kodachi's last weapon. She punched outward and contacted with Kuno's face, but the untrained blow barely registered to the samurai-wannabe.

"You should be," he said, grabbing her by the throat and slammed her into the wall. She hung a foot of the ground, unable to breathe. "It is my right to be feared." Kodachi gagged as Kuno slowly crushed her throat, she tugged at his hand with her own and flailed ineffectually at the air below her.

Then Kodachi fell to the ground and sweet air rushed into her lungs, the sensation of breathing drowned at the sound of a piece of wood clattering to the ground as well. She looked up, expecting to see Kuno gloating over her. Instead she saw him unarmed and wrapped in chains, struggling to break free.

"That is not how one treats a lady," Mousse lectured sarcastically. "Much less a sister." He whipped the samurai backwards off his feet. Kuno flew towards the waiting Mousse he let the chains fall loosely to the ground as he whipped a large, porcelain duck into Kuno's face. The training potty struck with enough force to shatter the duck.

Mousse spun back into a roundhouse that met Kuno in mid flight after being hit by the duck. The Chinese martial artist let his foot push Kuno's head in a reverse arc until the samurai met the ground again and was sandwiched between hardwood and a human foot. 

Before Mousse could follow up with anything else, the gym was enveloped in a cloud of choking smoke. When it cleared Kuno was gone without a trace. Mousse scanned the room briefly before rushing to the weight table.

"Kodachi are you all right?"

"You saved my life,"" Kodachi said in disbelief. Mousse looked up from the weight table and turned towards where the voice had emanated from. He moved, more cautiously towards where he was pretty certain that Kodachi was sitting. The master of dark magic was starting to worry that the gymnast would now start to obsess over him as well.

"Well, I couldn't ju-*" Mousse was interrupted when Kodachi reached out kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said simply, without flowery additions. For some reason this shy and reserved action sent Mousse's heart racing.

"I was glad to help," Mousse said and then looked at the still shaky Kodachi. "Not that I'd want you to get in trouble again."

"I don't want to stay here tonight," Kodachi said quietly. Mousse helped Kodachi to her feet and, deciding that she was still too shaky, picked her up and started carrying her. Kodachi leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked along, she felt safe.

[The Amazon and the Moneylender Contents][1]

[Part 4][2]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/aatm.html
   [2]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/shamnabi4.html



	4. A trip to the theatre. And what are thes...

The Amazon and the Moneylender, episode 4

"Hey, Dr. Tofu," Ukyou called out as she and Ryouga entered the clinic. She was finally back, and with any luck it would stay that way. "Sorry I'm late."

"Gromph?" Ukyou and Ryouga turned to face the giant panda sweeping the clinic lobby.

"Oh, hi Mr. Saotome," Ryouga said calmly. "Are we very late?"

"Gromph, grom grom," the panda held up a sign that read. "You're only ten minutes late, how is that possible?" A large drop of sweat rolled down Ryouga's forehead.

"Err," Ryouga sounded embarrassed. "We took taxis."

The sign flipped around and read "Oh, that explains it."

"Miss Kuonji," Dr. Tofu said as he walked into the room. "This is the first time _you've_ ever been late for an appointment. Usually you're punctual to the point of obsession."

"What do you mean?" Ukyou asked.

"You noticed that too?" Ryouga blurted out.

*CLANG*

"Have you been taking lessons from Akane?" Genma-Panda's sign asked. Ukyou narrowed her eyes.

*CLANG*CLANG*CLANG*

"Why'd you do that?" Ryouga asked, rubbing his head as he stood up.

"I need an excuse to hit Genma?" Ukyou asked. "Does anybody?" Ryouga thought about it for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess not," he finally agreed.

"Traitor," the battered panda's sign read.

"You know, now that I think about it," Ryouga said after seeing the sign. "Ranma kicked me towards the cliff, I think it was My. Panda here that originally forced me into that leap."

"I have to go, work to do," Genma's new sign read. "Bye." The panda wasted no time in leaving the room.

"I see you're using that arm despite what I said," Dr. Tofu noted as he circled Ukyou critically.

"Well....it felt alright," Ukyou said tentatively.

"That's okay, you're actually right on schedule."

"What!!? But you said-*"

"Yes, well, I knew you'd ignore that, so I added to my estimate."

"You what?"

"Roughly doubled all my the estimates of how long you'd be in the sling and cast."

"But I've already been in the cast the entire month!!"

"Yes, very surprising."

"You mean I could have been out of this contraption all this time!?!"

Kodachi silently marveled at the Tendo dojo. As always she wondered how they could rest so easy at night without even the most basic of booby traps. Of course they did seem to be quite nervous, except for that nice Kasumi woman that had prepared the second guest room for her. The two fathers, on the other hand, seemed to clear the room whenever Kodachi appeared. The gymnast hadn't yet figured out why they should be so jumpy around her.

At the moment Kodachi was enjoying a nice quiet meal after school. She had taken a gamble and was surprised when it paid off. Apparently there were no drugs in this soup Kasumi had made. Then she heard the door open and soon there was whispering coming from the kitchen. Finally, her Ranma-Darling was home.

Kodachi then narrowed her eyes and wondered where Mousse was. She had yet to thank him properly for saving her life. So it was now a matter of duty and honor to make sure that he won the heart of that blue-haired bimbo. The gymnast paused in her thinking to complain about Shampoo flirting around with all the men. Then she went back to plotting. Mousse deserved to be happy, and if saddling him with Shampoo was what it was going to take then so be it.

At this point she realized that she had forgotten all about her "Ranma-Darling." The gymnast gasped and rose from the table immediately.

"Kasumi, what's Kodachi doing in the dining room," Akane asked nervously. She and Ranma looked beat, having spent most of the night searching for the Ukyou look alike. Then they had to go to school. So it had roughly been thirty-six hours since either of them had really slept. Not that martial artists of their caliber lost much capability until somewhere around a week without sleep, but like anybody, they preferred to get it regularly.

"Oh, Mousse brought her by last night while you were out," Kasumi explained.

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain what she's doing here _now_," Akane pressed a little. Ranma was a little ways down the hall keeping an eye on the dining room entrance way.

"Well, apparently she needed a place to stay," Kasumi told them calmly.

"And you let her stay here," Ranma protested as quietly as he could.

"Well I couldn't just refuse her," Kasumi explained further. "Poor dear, seemed to be in a state of shock."

"Rannma-Darling," the high-pitched voice elicited a shiver from Ranma and Akane both. "I'm sooo happy to see you." She didn't seem in shock at all, in fact she seemed to be her normal clingy self.

"Uhh.....Kodachi!" Ranma screeched. "What are you doing here?" Her familial problems aside, Ranma and Akane still thought of Kodachi as a rather dangerous lunatic.

"I hope you don't mind me staying here," Kodachi leaned against the petrified Ranma and twirled his ponytail around in her fingers.

"Hey!" Akane protested. The mallet appeared in her hands.

"But you see, I had a little disagreement with my brother," she got that out just as the mallet crushed Ranma into the ground.

"In front of my sister no less!" Akane shouted. "Excuse me, did you just say that you had a disagreement with your brother."

"Why yes, though I don't see what business it is of yours," Kodachi jabbed her face at Akane.

"Ummm," Akane started, sounding embarrassed. "Are you okay?"

"He _was _a little more upset than usual, but Mousse kept things from going too far," Kodachi answered. "Why do you care?"

"Well," Akane said, mildly insulted. "I didn't..." Ranma interrupted her.

"Oh, we're just interested in tracking him down," he said, changing the subject almost completely. Akane glared at him.

"Well, _I _have no idea where he is right now," Kodachi said snobbishly. "I think that little toad of his took him off somewhere."

"Well, if you'll excuse us now, we're very tired," Ranma said, doing his best to nudge Akane around and away from Kodachi. "We can't find him now anyway."

"Hmm, yes." Kodachi answered. "And I have my own affairs to attend to. Ta Ta!! OO-hahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Kodachi started leaping away in her normal fashion.

"What was that all about!?!" Akane demanded as she malleted Ranma into the ground.

"Oww!!" Ranma said. "Sheesh, I was just trying to keep the property damage to a minimum. She's still calling them 'disagreements.' I doubt she'd admit that Kuno beats her up and doubt even more that she'd like it brought up."

"Like you're an expert on abuse," Akane snorted. Ranma looked at her and then walked to his room.

"Yeah, the only thing I know about is fighting," Ranma replied, closing the door behind him.

"What's his problem?" Akane asked before yawning and going to her own room.

"Oh beauteous Shampoo," Mousse began before he was slammed into the Cat Cafe wall.

"Stupid Mousse get out of way," Shampoo said. She was thinking. "Money-girl very smart, but wish she hurry up and set up crazy-girl and Mousse."

"Why can't you get it through your thick head that Shampoo doesn't want you," Cologne asked Mousse.

"That right, Shampoo love..." Cologne regarded her great-granddaughter as she paused in brief confusion. "...Ranma...yes...Shampoo love Ranma." 

"Ah ha!" Mousse declared pointing. "You hesitated! If you don't love Ranma, then who else could you love?"

"Shampoo love Ranma," Shampoo insisted strongly again. "Who else?"

"Ranma, eh," he smirked. "Not Airen?"

"Did you manage to find the Kuno girl yesterday, Mousse?" Cologne asked half-bored, trying to change the subject. It was more than decently successful.

"Crazy-girl, take your head off?"

"She's not crazy," Mousse protested. He paused and considered the problem of pairing the undeserving Saotome with Kodachi. Mousse had thought that he had detected a hint of sympathy while the arrogant fool was watching Kodachi's tapes. Perhaps he could use that. Kodachi deserved to be happy and well if she wanted Saotome, oh well. There was no accounting for taste.

"Who you kidding?" Shampoo asked.

"You shouldn't judge someone so quickly," Mousse countermanded, not noticing that he was arguing with his "Lady Love."

"Could you get started working so Shampoo can get in her training for the day?" Cologne asked irritably.

"Certainly," Mousse said, in an equally annoyed tone. Shampoo just shrugged and started walking out the door.

"Hey chief," Yuka called as she jogged up to join the strolling Nabiki. "You were right, we've been getting a lot of bet calls involving Copycat Ken since yesterday."

"Copycat Ken," Nabiki repeated. "Just what I need right now." Sayuri joined them at a much more sedate pace than Yuka.

"It seems that Tatewaki Kuno was released yesterday as well," she said. "But I suspect that you already knew that." Nabiki snorted, she hadn't, but she'd assumed it. There was no reason other reason for a duplicate Ukyou to be in that part of town.

They were walking around the small park, going no particular place, and talking all the way.

"So what do you want to do about Kuno?" Yuka asked. "Contact that ninja again?"

"Unfortunately, he might think I'm legitimate, but I don't think he cares." Nabiki stomped her foot, she couldn't imagine a ninja hiding the kind of information that was on those tapes from his superiors.

"Hey, isn't that Shampoo," Sayuri asked. Nabiki looked up the trail towards a clearing where the amazon was running katas. Nabiki paused in walking, and watched for a moment. Nabiki had seen numerous fights and refereed more than a few matches herself. She decided in watching Shampoo train that it was a great travesty that she had never been able to see many of Shampoo's best matches.

"Her form is...very good," Nabiki noted. She watched the smooth dance-like movements almost rapt by the near perfection. Nabiki wished momentarily that she could fight that well, and of course there was that body. Nabiki sighed desolately.

"Chief?" Yuka asked tentatively. "Anything wrong?"

"Don't you ever wish you could have that?" Nabiki asked.

"Have what?" Sayuri started, then an uncomfortable thought struck her. "Shampoo?"

"What gave you that idea?" Nabiki snapped. "The skill and the beauty, you know?"

"Right, of course, what was I thinking?"

"Hey, let's go to the diner and pool the info on Sasuke, Ken, and Kuno."

"What about the Kodachi/Mousse project?" the questioner was Yuka.

"Or the various betting pools?"

"And the watches on Cologne and Happosai?" Nabiki sighed, she was too strung out, information was taking too long to get to her. She was the mistress of Nerima, but usually activity in the area was limited to one or two plots centering on Ranma. She had to admit that her network wasn't prepared for dealing with so many projects at once. The yakuza had almost slipped an operation past her last week. They had already set up their equipment by the time Nabiki could arrange for the police to receive an anonymous tip.

Nabiki forced herself to turn away from the spectacle of Shampoo and start walking out of the park.

"Well we can't let anybody know we're stretched out," Nabiki noted first. "The watches on Cologne and Happosai stay, I want to know their plans before they do. Leave the normal staff on the betting pools. Everybody else keep an eye out for Kuno and friends."

"And Kodachi and Mousse?"

"Let's take care of Kuno first," Nabiki said. "The other won't matter so much if Kuno kills his sister." Nabiki didn't yet know that the would-be samurai had already tried.

"Hey, money-girl!" they all stopped when they heard Shampoo's voice calling out. The amazon leaped down to them. "Shampoo want talk to you."

"Sure," Nabiki answered without hesitation. Sayuri and Yuka sighed in frustration. "There's a good place."

"That theatre," Shampoo noted flatly.

"Yeah, so?"

"I pick movie this time." Nabiki thought about for a moment.

"Make it good."

"Aiya," Shampoo said happily and then she started toward the theatre, Nabiki following soon after.

"What is with those two?" Yuka asked.

"Must be a lot of money involved somewhere."

*CLANG* Ryouga was smacked into the ground. He noticed that the hit wasn't as hard this time, he decided it might have something to do with the fact that Ukyou had hit him with a one handed smash. Her other hand was occupied in holding her the foot of her formerly broken leg off the ground. She was hopping around and grimacing in a combination of pain and anger.

"What was that for?" Ryouga demanded.

"Watch where you're walking will you," Ukyou told him. "My leg still hurts a little you know."

"Oh, sorry," Ryouga said sheepishly as he stood up and scratched his head. "Do you need help?" Ukyou rolled her eyes and then laughed in pleased surprise. "Hey, its a new Jackie Chan movie!!"

"A what?" Ryouga asked.

"A Jackie Chan movie," Ukyou repeated, as if that explained everything. "Don't you know who Jackie Chan is?"

"Of course," Ryouga said. "He's one of the best martial artists around, they made a movie about him?" Ukyou rolled her eyes and then half limped, dragging Ryouga along.

"Come on, let's go see it," Ukyou demanded. "We've missed the day for opening Ucchan's anyway."

"I guess so, I don't much like documentaries though."

"Would you prefer Titanic?"

"Jackie Chan it is!"

"Miss Kuno," Cologne addressed Kodachi as she entered the Cat Cafe. "It is a pleasure to see you again."

"Really?" Kodachi asked with a hint of disbelief. She sat down at a table and waited for service.

"Kodachi?" Mousse asked with a little surprise.

"Oh, there you are," Kodachi declared, she was wondering how he recognized her. "And where is Shampoo?"

"She's out training somewhere," Mousse said non-commitally.

"Well if that's all the enthusiasm your going to show," Kodachi started in mock annoyance. "I see no reason for you to have _my_ help."

"And how was Saotome this morning?"

"Ranma didn't get in until after school," Kodachi answered. "Hey and the Tendo girl were tired and went to bed soon after that."

"That's not a good sign," Mousse said. Kodachi scowled at him.

"Hey, blind boy!" they heard Cologne yell. "Take her order and get to the other customers!"

"Alright, you old ghoul," Mousse grumbled, he turned back to Kodachi. "So what do you want?"

"Hmm, I'll have the chicken-beef special," Kodachi said. "And one of those American sodas, Dr. Pepper. Always wanted to try those."

"Okay," Mousse wrote it down. "Be right back."

"I shall be here."

"Jackie Chan is an...actor?" Ryouga said again for perhaps the tenth time.

"Shh," Ukyou ordered. "Yeah, just like Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris."

"Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris made movies!?!!" Ryouga shouted bolting to a standing position. He was answered with a chorus of shushes and Ukyou jerking him back down.

"Quiet, people are trying to enjoy the movie." Ryouga continued to watch somewhat confused. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry, as far as he was concerned this was fairly close to blaspheme. It was a hilarious movie however.

A little further down in the theatre, Shampoo and Nabiki were among those shushing Ryouga.

"Really, I can't believe some people," Nabiki complained.

"That sound familiar," Shampoo said. Nabiki agreed, but she was trying to relax right now. On the screen Jackie and two of the female sidekicks were running every which way trying to escape a bunch of hit men of some sort. There were a couple of really funny scenes after they hit the car chase, and Shampoo and Nabiki started laughing trying to keep it quiet.

Shampoo leaned over and tapped on Nabiki's shoulder.

"Maybe Ranma take romance lessons from Jackie Chan movies," she suggested. Both girls burst out in hysterical laughter, leaning on each other for support. They stood out from the rest of the audience only a little, laughter being fairly prevalent in scattered patches through the theatre.

"Um, Shampoo," Nabiki started as they both calmed down.

"Nabiki?" Shampoo asked catching her breath.

"Where's your hand?" They both asked at nearly the same time. Well, Shampoo's came out more like "Where hand," but you get the picture.

They both looked down to where Shampoo was apparently copping a feel on Nabiki's breast, and Nabiki seemed to have a handful of Shampoo's thigh. They turned beet red and virtually slammed back into their seats, paying exaggerated attention to the movie.

Ukyou noticed a couple, she couldn't tell anymore than that, apparently making out a few rows down. At least they had been until something embarrassed them, Ukyou thought it was a good idea. She looked over towards Ryouga and saw that he was still sulky, but at least he was starting to relax a little. The lost boy didn't notice at first when Ukyou raised the arm between her seat and his. He noticed however when Ukyou leaned back and snuggled against his chest.

"Hey, we're in public," he protested quietly, more out of habit than any real complaint. This was proved by the fact that he shifted his position to allow her easy access up to his lap.

"Be quiet and no one will notice," she whispered. Circling her arms backward around his head and shoulders. His arms circled her waist and he leaned his head on her shoulder. They both just quietly watched the movie and enjoyed each other's presence.

Akane couldn't sleep, merely turned about restlessly. Something was bothering her. It wasn't long before she was up and dressed. Maybe a quick jog would give her some time to think things through and decide what exactly was bothering her.

She thought back over the day and couldn't place her unease on anything. Not even the Kuno situation, though she had heard from some of Nabiki's crew that the samurai was indeed out of jail again. No it had been a mostly average, for Nerima, day right up until she and Ranma went off to bed after getting home from school.

She had passed the park and was rounding the still empty Ucchan's when she remembered that last conversation. She didn't understand why Ranma was being so cautious around Kodachi's feelings while not seeming to care at all about a, marginally, more sane Shampoo. Then she thought about another sentence of his from the day before. She had almost forgotten it.

"Kuno must read the same books as my old man," he had said. She stopped and thought about the various times Genma had sold Ranma for meals and the repeated cat fist training sessions. Then she felt a deep sense of guilt and shame about her own behavior earlier that day. She turned back around and started back to the dojo.

"Excuse me," Kasumi was looking at an odd little delivery man. "I have a package here for a" he checked the label. "Akane Tendo."

"Oh, wait here a moment, I'll go and get her," Kasumi disappeared back into the dojo. Surprisingly she couldn't find her sister, she tentatively knocked on the guest room that held Ranma and Genma's bed rolls. She half-hoped that she would find Akane in there, and half-dreaded it. "Excuse me, Ranma?"

"What is it?" a bleary voiced Ranma asked. Kasumi was one of the few people that could wake him up easily. There was something instinctive in the human being that dreaded hurting Kasumi's feelings.

"There is a package here for Akane, but I can't find her anywhere." The door opened, revealing Ranma still in his day clothes blinking away the sleep.

"And you thought she'd be in here?" he was mildly insulted. "Never mind, I'll get it." He shuffled to the door and regarded the delivery man.

"Akane's not here at the moment," he said. "I'll sign for it."

"Sure," the delivery man handed over the clipboard and Ranma signed it. The delivery man then handed the large package over to Ranma and waved nonchalantly as he left. Ranma looked over the package and immediately noticed something odd.

"To Akane Tendo from Ranma Saotome?" he read aloud in confusion. "What the?" Curiosity overwhelming him, he opened the box. A green mist rose up and enveloped his face. His eyes crossed and he fell backwards, unconscious.

The lights came back on suddenly, at least so it seemed to the two couples in the theatre. Ryouga and Ukyou had given over to "pillow talk" soon after the credits had started rolling. Truth be told they had probably lost track of the movie a good thirty minutes earlier. 

Shampoo and Ukyou had calmed down tremendously after that first...incident, and began chatting over "business" while waiting for the theatre to clear. Though they tried, the conversation didn't remain professional for much longer than a minute. At which point it degenerated into basic gossip and small talk. It was doubtful whether either of them noticed the shift in mood.

Then came the lights, the sudden and blinding lights that revealed a nearly empty theatre. All four of them blinked and squinted their eyes to clear the glare. None of them quite saw the theatre employee enter and leave quickly.

"Sorry!" they all heard just before the door shut behind him. Then Ukyou looked down at the other couple in the room as Shampoo looked up.

"You!!" both said at the same time.

"Knew that voice sound familiar," Shampoo declared. "Lost-boy ruin movie, shouldn't go to theatre."

"Hey!" Ryouga protested. "I only yelled that one time." Ukyou ignored the exchange and pointed, somewhat pale, at the pair.

"You two were the couple making out?" she asked in shock. Both Shampoo and Nabiki turned as red as Ukyou was pale, and the chef was competing with Kodachi's normal color. Ryouga just looked confused.

"We were not making out," Nabiki protested. "We were laughing at a joke."

"Yeah, Shampoo not mean put hand there." Nabiki winced. Ryouga finally understood what was going on.

"You're dating Shampoo, Nabiki?" Ryouga asked, calmly, apparently rhetorically, because he went right ahead talking. "Hmm, that's surprising."

"You're awfully calm about this," Ukyou noted.

"Get it through thick head," Shampoo shouted. "We not dating."

"Oh don't worry about it," Ryouga assured them. "We won't tell anybody. Will we Ukyou?"

"What?!?"

"We're not dating, we were discussing...uh...business," Nabiki said, wishing she really had been talking about business and not where to go to eat from here.

"Like I said," Ryouga seemed to be ignoring them. "We didn't see anything." He virtually had to drag the half-shocked Ukyou out of the theatre with him.

"Great," Nabiki moaned quietly. "Now they think _we're_ dating."

"Crazy lost-boy not matter," Shampoo said. "We not dating, so no problem, where we eat again?"

"Yeah, probably best not to press the matter," Nabiki agreed. "Otherwise it might just get worse. Um I don't think we had decided where to eat." Then she realized something. "Damn it! When did they get in town?"

"You not know?"

"I'm going to have to fix this problem," she stomped her foot and scowled. "Damn it, I knew when _Cologne_ first started heading this way."

"She travel with lost-boy, how you keep track of him?" Nabiki blinked and then shrugged.

"Good point."

Outside in the lobby, Ukyou and Ryouga were heading out into daylight.

"What's wrong with you?" Ryouga asked her.

"There were two _girls_ making out in there," Ukyou whispered. "Girls we _know_."

"So?"

"That doesn't bother you?"

"No."

"It took me two days of effort to get you to calm down enough just to hug me?"

"Yeah, but whatever they're doing doesn't involve me."

"Sometimes I just don't understand you, let's just go say hi to Ranma and Akane and then go home."

Ranma awoke in the hallway and found himself looking down at the package. There was something wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Of course there was the fact that a package supposedly from him to Akane had contained some kind of gas, but there was something more.

Ranma was still trying to figure it out when he heard the voice behind him.

"What are you DOING opening MY mail?!?!" It was Akane, but she wasn't home, Kasumi had looked for her.

"Well it was addressed from me," Ranma said. "And I don't remember sending you anything by post! Besides when I opened it, something knocked me out."

"That was me you pervert!!" That made sense to Ranma, almost, it was too easy. Akane attacked with her mallet and Ranma barely dodged.

"She's gotten faster," Ranma thought to himself as the mallet came in again, this time it took out part of the wall. "Damn! She's really mad this time, I better get the mallet away from her." The next time the mallet came down he lanced out a foot to snap the head away from the handle. 

Akane's swing continued unhindered, and there was no sudden stop to end her forward momentum. Akane cried out once as she flew forward and into the corner of one of the walls, then she fell to the ground in silence. Something in the back of Ranma's head was flashing warning signs, Akane was much better than that. Unfortunately for Ranma he was too preoccupied to listen to his deeper misgivings any more.

"Akane?" Ranma asked cautiously. He looked at her lying there in an odd jumbled like a dropped doll. "Akane, are you okay?" He reached over and turned her around so that she looked face up. Then he felt his soul crack.

Akane stared up with sightless eyes, a deep gash in her forehead where she had struck the corner of the wall. Ranma looked up and saw that the wall was smeared with blood, how could he have missed it before.

"Akane!! NOOOOO!!!!!!!"

"Ranma?" Kasumi said half shocked as she rounded a corner, seeing Ranma lying back against the wall. The package lay opened in front of him. "What are you doing opening Akane's mail?" Ranma didn't respond, she saw him breathing easily and assumed that he had just passed out from fatigue. "Really, imagine the nerve."

Kasumi took the package, and closed it up without checking the contents, placing it on the table in the hall. She then addressed the problem of Ranma's unconscious form. At this point Akane came back in the door and managed to trip over him.

"Hey, Ranma?" Akane said confused. "What are you doing asleep in the hallway?"

"Oh, Akane," Kasumi declared then. "There's a package for you there." Akane disentangled herself from the unconscious form of her fiancee. It wasn't unusual for Ranma to sleep through almost everything, but he usually didn't fall asleep until he reached his bed roll. She took the package and looked at it.

"To Akane Tendo from Ranma Saotome?" Akane repeated. "Oh, I wonder what this is?" She opened it and all she found inside was an envelope addressed to Ranma.

"That's odd," Kasumi noted. "Why would Ranma mail you a letter addressed to him?"

"I don't think this is from Ranma," Akane said, she looked down at the sleeping form, worried.

"Ranma - By now your dear Akane has opened your 'gift' I won't bore you with the name of the drug, I'll just tell you what it does. Even now Akane is trapped in a series of unending nightmares, facing all her greatest fears. She will stay this way until you apply the antidote, which is in my position. If you want Akane to wake up, sane, then you must fight me one last time for the antidote. The soccer field, I want your defeat to be public and humiliating. - Copycat Ken." Akane dropped the letter, her face pale. She launched herself at Ranma and began vigorously shaking him, trying to wake him up.

"Ranma? Ranma?!? RANMA wake-up!! BAKA!!!! WAKE-UP!!! BAKA!!! HENTAI!!!! WAKE-UP!!!....Ranma....wake...up.....please" she gave up, leaned over his almost motionless form and sobbing. Kasumi blinked at the display and picked up the letter, wondering what it said.

"Oh dear," it was all she said, as usual. Akane stood up then, her face enraged, and ran on out the door. "Akane wait."

"He's dead!!" Kasumi heard her yelling in the distance. "I'm going to kill him!!" This time she actually meant the words.

"It seems that Shampoo is not going to be back anytime soon," Kodachi noted.

"Are you going to eat the rest of that?" Mousse asked, pointing at the barely touched ramen bowl.

"Oh, that is far too much for me all on my own."

"Do you eat like this all the time?"

"Of course not," Kodachi said, only a little hesitantly. They all felt the approach of a supreme concentration of battle chi approaching. "Is that barbarian back already?"

"You mean Ryouga, I suppose," Cologne noted. All three regarded the street where they expected the fighter to pass. They saw the glow first.

"Whoah, he's very mad," Mousse noted. Then Akane nearly flew by. The three warriors dropped to the floor. "I wonder what Saotome did this time?" Both the women understood differently.

"You should rather ask what happened to Ranma," Cologne suggested.

"It seems that I have to leave," Kodachi said fully proper. "Perhaps Miss Tendo could use some help." Mousse felt a twinge of jealousy almost, though he knew helping Akane might help Kodachi win Ranma.

"I'll go with you," Mousse said. "As angry as she is, she won't need much help, but you never can tell." Kodachi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but it may have been his imagination.

"Good," Cologne agreed. "Go, I shall be fine here."

"Isn't this where we first met?" Ryouga asked.

"Yeah, which is past the dojo," she glanced suspiciously at Ryouga. "How did we get here?" Ryouga shrugged.

"That was only two years ago right?"

"Yeah, that's right, actually it's good we're here. It fits. I want to talk about something."

"Go ahead," Ryouga noticed that there was a teasing tone to her voice. It was the same tone she got when coming up with a new plan. There was, something behind it though, a hint of worry to the voice though.

"Maybe when we finally get to Ucchan's we can start moving your stuff into the main bedroom?" She watched him closely, gauging his reactions.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ryouga gulped. Snuggling and living in the same house was one thing, but he didn't want to take advantage of this new relationship with Ukyou. She might not actually want him, this might just be one of those nurse/patient things he had heard of. "Could you fit my bed in there?"

"Why would we need two beds?" Ukyou resisted the urge to smack him. "I mean we've been sleeping together pretty much the entire month." To herself she added a slightly frustrated after thought. "And sleeping has been about all we were doing."

"But we were camping," he protested. "We're not even engaged." Ukyou sighed, Ryouga was far to chivalrous sometimes. She stopped and looked up at him, Ryouga's tread ceased as well and he turned to face her, nervously. All the teasing was gone from her face. She looked like someone about to fall off a cliff in hopes that she would survive. That was something that Ryouga had a lot of experience with.

"Ryouga," Ukyou said softly, looking up into his face. "I want you more than I ever did Ranma. I don't want to be under the same roof with you and not be able to feel you next to me. What about you?" she paused a moment.

"Ukyou, I-" Ryouga started, feeling his heart rise in his chest. Ukyou forestalled his response with gentle touch to his lips.

"Let me get this all out okay? Can you tell me outright, without the shy and chivalrous crap? Do you love me? Or am I just the next best thing to Akane?" She paused, swallowed hard and asked one last question. "Do you want to be mine?"

"I already am," Ryouga answered without hesitation, silently reprimanding himself for doubting their newly found feelings. Ukyou breathed a sigh of relief. She reached up as he leaned down and they met in the middle for their first real kiss.

After what felt like an eternity, they were brought back to the world in general by two bright flashes of light and the sound of polaroid photos being dispensed.

"Good," Yuka said. "We can collect on that pool then."

"What?" Ryouga said dropping the hand from his eyes. Ukyou glared at the pair and considered whether or not to flourbomb the both of them.

"You guys haven't seen Nabiki around have you?" Sayuri asked as Yuka was waiting for the film to develope. "Last we saw her she was off doing something with Shampoo."

"We just saw them at theatre," Ryouga said irritably. "Why?"

"We just need to tell her something." Yuka said. "Thanks." They started to leave and found themselves blocked in either direction by a weapon. An umbrella on one side and a spatula on the other.

"The pictures," Ryouga noted.

"Perhaps you could give them to us?" Ukyou added.

"You don't hit girls," Sayuri said confidently. Ryouga and Ukyou smiled, "It's...in your dossier."

"What about me?" Ukyou asked. Nabiki's lieutenant's gulped.

"Here," Yuka handed them over glumly.

"Thanks," Ukyou accepted both photos gladly. "By the way, I wouldn't have hit you either. Hey, these are pretty good."

"What?" Sayuri shouted.

"It's the whole don't bully the weak thing." Ryouga explained, as he was looking at one of the photos. "You look great in this one."

"You bluffed us?"

"Yep," Ukyou said. "Oh, but you're so cute squinting at the flash in this one."

"Well let's go on to the dojo, what do you say Ucchan?"

"An excellent idea, Ryochan," Ukyou agreed and then they were both walking on, leaving an annoyed Sayuri and Yuka behind.

"Well?" Yuka asked as soon as the martial artists were gone. Sayuri smiled and put her hand into a pocket. She stopped smiling.

"I don't have the other camera," she retrieved a slip of paper and read it. "'Neither of you is Nabiki - R&U.'"

"Damn it," Sayuri said. "Let's just go find Nabiki."

"RANMA!!!" Ranma looked up at the demon-head of Soun Tendo. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!?!!"

"Where's Dr. Tofu?" demanded Ranma. "She can't be dead! She can't be!"

"I have always told you all that he is an evil that must be destroyed." It was Kuno.

"Oh Ranma," Kasumi's face was pale, and the usually undauntable woman looked as if she was going to faint.

"Don't just stand there!" Ranma yelled. "Call Dr. Tofu!"

"There's no need to call me, murderer, I'm right here."

"Monster how can you claim to have loved Akane!"

"Ryouga? But you're in America!"

"Too think that I once loved you!" He saw Ukyou getting ready to wield her spatula.

"But it was an accident!" Ranma fled out the door away from the growing mass of his enemies and friends.

"Airen finally get rid of violent girl!" For a moment the fear and confusion were replaced by an overwhelming rage. He turned to face Shampoo and found a half-cat, half-amazon. "Aiya, Shampoo so happy."

"No! No!! NO!!!" Ranma backpedaled and ran in full flight away from the creature.

"I appreciate the impulse, boy, iff it wasn't for that sword of your mother's" he stopped and saw a panda speaking with his father's human voice. "But perhaps you should have waited until after the marriage. Like father, like son, eh Ranma?"

"I didn't mean to kill her, it was an accident!" Ranma was shocked to hear himself speaking with a girl's voice. He looked down and saw that he was indeed in female form.

"Oh come on," and Ranma-Chan turned to face Ranma-Kun. "You know you hated her. I'll bet you were even jealous of her. I'll bet you were even jealous of her. All those men chasing after her and only one or two after your female form."

"This is a dream," Ranma realized suddenly. "Something from that gas." Ranma smiled. "I can handle this."

And then suddenly Ranma jolted awake. He was lying in a hospital bed, and he felt weak and tired. He heard a yawn and looked to see what he thought was Ukyou.

"Ucchan?" The name came out strained and weak. Even as he said it he knew that he was wrong. Ukyou didn't have fangs.

"Mom!" the almost-Ukyou yelled, startled.

"I don't believe it," he heard a woman say. The voice was a little familiar. "He's really awake."

"Hello Ranma," said a man's voice. "How are you feeling?" Then Ranma turned his head and saw two people he immediately recognized as Ukyou and Ryouga. They were older than he had last seen them, both in their late thirties or early forties.

Then he caught a look at himself in a mirror. He was old, and his muscles were withered from long disuse.

"This is still the nightmare," he said desperately. Ryouga and Ukyou looked at each other in concern.

"I told you he wouldn't take it well," Ryouga said.

"No, Ranma," Ukyou said gently. "This is real, Dr. Tofu finally found the antidote."

"What happened."

"It was one of Kodachi's tricks," Ryouga told him. "It was supposed to hit Akane."

"Akane! What happened to Akane?"

"Is he talking about the Akane I'm named after?" The girl asked.

"Yes, he is," Ranma had a sinking feeling that the news not good.

"She faced off against Kodachi," Ryouga said. "Of course no Kuno would fight fair."

"Kodachi killed Akane," Ukyou said through a choked voice.

"NO!!!" Ranma shouted, Akane died because he wasn't there to protect her. It couldn't be. "This is still the dream!!!" Suddenly he was young again.

Ranma woke up slowly, as he usually did...

[The Amazon and the Moneylender Contents][1]

[Part 5][2]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/aatm.html
   [2]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/shamnabi5.html



	5. Shampoo - Gomen Nasai, you didn't deserv...

T'The Amazon and The Moneylender: Episode 5

Copycat Ken fiddled with the little vial, laughing quietly. By now Akane should have opened his little package and soon, if not already, Ranma would be coming for the antidote. It was something he should have thought of long ago. He watched the vial twirl through the air one more time and laughed again. Even in the event that Ranma beat him, there was no way that he'd figure out how to use the antidote correctly. He was probably the only one in the world that knew about the substance.

Copycat Ken was happy, there was no way for him to lose now. Ranma Saotome was doomed. He caught the vial looked beyond the soccer field's fence. He saw the approaching glow of a large battle chi and smiled again, snickering. He secreted the vial away in a pocket somewhere as he walked out onto the soccer field.

He looked around at the small gathering of people at the field, not as many as he had hoped for, but more would follow in Ranma's wake. Everything was going his way, and nothing could go wrong.

"How's Akane doing?" Copycat Ken asked as he heard the fighter land behind him, he turned around in time to see the chi surrounded fist flashing towards him. He barely ducked the attack and jumped out of range, that wasn't Ranma's normal method of fighting. It took him less than a second to realize that his opponent was not Ranma. "Akane Tendo?" He asked laughing. "I take it this means that you didn't get Ranma's gift." The crowd was gossiping among themselves at what Akane's presence meant for the battle.

"I'm going to kill you," Akane promised from where she stood. Copycat Ken laughed as his leap peaked and he began to settle to the ground.

"Damn it," Sayuki muttered. "We missed them again."

"How do you know that they were ever here?" Yuka asked, a little bored. Sayuri pointed to the back of the restaurant, where it curved around out of the girl's immediate line of sight. Yuka walked a few feet to the corner and looked around the bend.

"Oh, I see," Yuka commented. The rear wall of the restaurant had a gaping hole in the wall. "Where should we try next?" A group of people ran by, moving towards Furinkan High School.

"Hey, I want to place a bet," somebody shouted upon seeing Sayuri and Yuka. "Akane to win over Copycat Ken!"

"Akane fighting Copycat Ken!" Sayuri and Yuka shouted together. They joined the rush, taking bets along the way as they did.

"Ryouga," Ukyou said wearily. The bandanna-ed boy stopped his stride and turned to face her.

"What?" he asked, honestly curious. Ukyou pointed a little to her left, where she stood about three feet behind him. He turned and saw the sign of the Tendo dojo.

"We're here," she told him.

"Oh, heh," Ryouga said, embarrassed. "I guess so." Ukyou rolled her eyes and waited for Ryouga to get to her before walking to the door, dragging him along by the arm.

"I don't get lost that easy," he protested quietly, in some obscure language. She glared at him, but since she didn't understand what he said, that was it.

"HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?!" the shout rang at just as Ukyou went to knock on the door. It was followed by a full Soun Tendo wail. Ryouga and Ukyou glanced at each other and then ran into the dojo. Ukyou had to grab Ryouga before he rushed into the kitchen, but otherwise they made it fairly easily to the source of the wailing.

"What's going on?" Ryouga demanded as they turned into Ranma's room.

"We're ready to help if it's…" Ukyou stopped when she saw the situation, Ryouga stopped only a stride later. She had expected Akane to be the one in trouble, instead she saw an unconscious Ranma surrounded by Soun, Genma and Kasumi.

"Wait a minute where's Akane?" Ukyou would have kicked Ryouga if she hadn't been thinking the same thing.

"Where's your fiancee, Akane?" Ken asked snidely. He whirled the kerchief past his face and stood there in Ranma's body.

"Where's the antidote you freak?" Akane demanded, rushing in at Ranma-Ken. Ken blocked and dodged the exchange easily. He jumped to the side and laughed snidely.

"Let me guess," Ranma-Ken laughed. "He found the package first, right?" Akane growled at him. He smirked and drew out the antidote vial "I don't seem to need this then, do I." Akane's eyes widened.

"Give me that," she shouted. She leaped at him, kicking out with one foot, Ranma-Ken dodged to the side.

"Uh, uh," the doppleganger tsked. "What if I were to drop this?" The smile on his face wasn't anything Akane had ever seen before on Ranma's face, and hoped to never see it again.

"How's this going to prove your better than Ranma?" Akane asked him.

"Good point, but I don't really care," he laughed. "Here, catch." He turned and tossed the vial across the field, with unerring aim straight for the far goal.

"NOOO!!!!!" Akane momentarily ignored Ken as she rushed for the vial, and nearly reached it when something smashed into the back of her head and she fell to the ground. Akane rolled to her feet almost instantly, but the vial was already out of her reach. It was a mere foot from smashing against the goal's metal frame when a blue ribbon snatched from the air.

"Oo-hahahahahahahaha!!!!" They both turned to see Kodachi as she caught the retrieved vial. "Something tells me that you're not my Ranma-Darling." The mildly disturbed gymnast asserted.

"How'd you guess?" Ken asked, eyeing her angrily.

"Saotome, for all his other faults, does not strike women," Mousse said as he landed next to Kodachi. "Need help Akane?"

"This is my fight," Akane answered. "Just take that anidote to Ranma. I'll handle Ken." Ranma-Ken laughed.

"You'll handle me?" the kerchief passed again and in Ranma-Ken's face was another face Akane easily recognized. "Ranma almost lost to this one, how do you think you'll fare?" Akane hesitated, looking at Saffron's adult form, then she smiled viciously and took her stance.

"Akane?" Mousse asked again.

"GO!!!" Akane shouted. Mousse and Kodachi hesitated, and Akane turned to them again. "I can handle a fraud like him." Her aura flared around her as she said it. Saffron-Ken laughed and took his own stance.

"As you wish," Mouse nodded and turned to Kodachi. 

"Good luck, Akane Tendo," Kodachi declared before laughing and leaping away. Mousse followed quickly behind.

"They don't know how to use it," Saffron-Ken laughed. "Ranma's gone, get used to it." Akane growled and rushed forward.

Mousse found Kodachi waiting just beyond the sight of the soccer field.

"What are you doing here?" Mousse demanded. "This is your chance to win Ranma's heart."

"I'm going," Kodachi asserted. "But you're not, Akane is going to lose. You know that as well as I, what would Shampoo think of you if you succeeded in defeating that crass shape-changer? Surely you must be a great warrior in order to do that."

"I hadn't thought of it that way, this is a good chance to impress Shampoo," Kodachi winced.

"Just make sure its Ken you're hitting and not some spectator," Kodachi sniped.

"Well, try to miz your paralysis powders with that antidote," Mousse answered back. They glared at each other for a moment.

"Be careful," Kodachi finally said, softly, glare fading to nothing.

"I will." They stared for a moment longer in awkward silence before splitting up to accomplish their separate tasks.

"How could I have missed that," Nabiki was thinking to herself, as she sat on the bench next to Shampoo. The park was oddly deserted for the time of day, but Nabiki had purposefully avoided people so she wasn't sure why. It didn't weigh much on her mind anyway. "How long have they been in town? What else have I missed?"

"This sundae very good," Shampoo said.

"Really?" Nabiki asked, pausing in her thoughts. "Can I try a bite?"

"Sure," Shampoo scooped out a spoonful a directed it toward Nabiki, who leaned forward and accepted the ice cream.

"Mmm, that is good," Nabiki agreed. Her thoughts continued on a different track, "I have been distracted recently. I know that, not been paying my affairs the proper attention."

"Where everybody?" Shampoo asked, gesturing about the empty park.

"That's a good question," Nabiki noted. She scanned about the park as well and stopped on Shampoo's face. "Hey Shampoo, you got some whipped cream on your face."

"Oh," Shampoo wiped at her mouth a little. "I get it?" She asked after a moment.

"No not yet," Nabiki said. "It started about a month or so ago." Then she rolled her eyes at Shampoo's attempts to find the evasive spot of whipped cream. "Here, just a moment." She reached forward with a napkin and wiped it away.

"Thank you, Shampoo fine now?" Shampoo asked.

"Yeah, I got i-" Nabiki's voice cut off as her eyes connected with Shampoo's merely inches away from her face. Her heart raced and her mind went blank as she became aware of the blue-haired Amazon's closeness, the warmth of her body and the cheerfulness of her aura. "I….uh…I…ka…"

"Nihao?" Nabiki blinked. Shampoo's hand passed in front of Nabiki's eyes a couple of times. "Nabiki okay?"

"Uh, Shampoo, shouldn't you be getting back to work?" Nabiki asked as she stood up suddenly. Shampoo looked confused and then leaped to her feet.

"Aiya! You right, Shampoo late!" She started to run off towards the Cat Café. She paused a moment and hugged Nabiki quickly, it was almost becoming a habit with her. Nabiki's breath caught as Shampoo's arms encircled her. "See you later, okay? Bye bye." Then Shampoo was gone. Nabiki released her breath and collapsed to her knees.

"What was that?" Then Kodachi landed on the fountain above her and dashed off with a jarring laugh towards Nabiki's home. Nabiki shoved the other question to the back of her mind and immediately followed. "What is she up to?"

Nabiki came home to a rather chaotic mess, which was normal. She entered the thick of it without anybody noticing that she was there. Of course, there was no telling whether Kasumi noticed her or not, its not like she would behave any differently either way.

"This is very convenient for you," Ryouga pointed out. "Ken poisons Ranma, Akane fights Ken, probably loses, and you bring the cure for Ranma."

"You are saying that I would ally myself with that creature?" Kodachi was livid.

"I think you're capable of doing anything to get poor ranchan to marry you," Ukyou agreed with Ryouga.

"As if you two are any better," Kodachi snapped. "Always plotting together."

"Well, I guess that was true," Ukyou admitted. "But I never poisoned anyone, that's your game."

"Plotting? When did we ever plot?" Ryouga was rewarded with a pair of blank stares from Ukyou and Kodachi. They blinked almost in unison at him.

"Is he _always_ like this?" Kodachi asked.

"Am I always like what?"

"You have no idea." Ryouga sweatdropped.

"Shouldn't you be giving Ranma the antidote?" Kasumi asked mildly.

"Of course, it's right…" Kodachi searched around. "WHERE'D IT GO!!?!"

"Don't play games girl," Genma lectured.

"If you're stalling…" Ukyou twiddled a pair of mini-spatulas.

"I'm not playing games, where'd it go?"

"You mean this?" Nabiki held up the open vial for all to see. "Give me a moment to finish mixing it." She took a small knife a sliced a thin cut alon Ranma's arm, mixxing the blood into the vial.

"Nabiki, you know this drug?" Soun asked her, pausing from his wailing. She had closed the vial again and was shaking it up.

"Something mom taught me," it was Nabiki would say. "_This _is Copycat Ken's work?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I should have been paying more attention, he couldn't have collected the ingredients for this without somebody giving me an alert." Then she started asking other questions of herself. "What is going on with me, I'm making all sorts of mistakes. And, why was I so out of it with Shampoo earlier?"

"Excuse me, Nabiki-san," Kodachi asked sweetly. "But what exactly does this chemical do?"

"Yeah, right," Ryouga snickered. "You're going to get an answer out of her."

"I saw those big purple eyes and it was like I couldn't think anymore," Out loud Nabiki responded unconsciously to Kodachi's question. "You drink it and takes your spirit to where ever the spirit of who's ever blood is mixed with it." Nabiki was oblivious to the various shocked stares that were sent her way.

"Oh is that it?"

"Shampoo is very….what am I thinking?" then Kodachi snatched the vial from Nabiki's hand. "Hey, what do you think you're…" Then Kodachi opened the vial. "Aahhh!! Wait you don't know…" The Kodachi drank the vial dry and her eyes rolled back as she fell to the ground unconscious. "…what you're doing." Nabiki sighed.

"That isn't a good thing I'm guessing?" Genma said.

Saffron-Ken wasn't having the level of success he had hoped for in facing off against Akane. The winged man frowned as he round-housed over Akane's ducking form, and subsequently had to block a flurry of enraged attacks.

"I don't get." Mousse thought to himself, watching from a tree nearby. He could already tell that Akane had the edge in the battle. "Saffron was beyond any of us, only luck brought Saotome victory."

"Enough playing around!" Saffron-Ken shouted using his wings to carry him out of Akane's immediate range. The collected audience oo-ed and ahh-ed, but did nothing else.

"I thought Saffron was supposed to be a lot more powerful than this," Sayuri noted.

"I hope Akane wins," Yuka said, quietly.

The false phoenix reared back his hands in preparation for an energy blast, he looked down in surprise as Akane leapt up toward him. Then through forward and…nothing happened.

"She's not fighting with any more skill than usual," Mousse commented. "She's channeling an insane amount of battle chi, though, which explains the enhanced speed and strength. But why is Ken having so much trouble with the Saffron form?"

"What-!?" Akane's foot, wrapped in battle chi, snapped into his face bringing him downward back to earth.

"Have you figured it out yet, Baka!!?" Akane shouted as she landed and smashed into the shape-changer. The dazed Saffron-Ken barely managed a half-effective defense against Akane's attacks. "I'm going to kill you Ken, do you get it?"

"Oh, I understand now," Mousse laughed. "You'd think Ken wouldn't make such a mistake."

"Saffron was the greatest warrior any of us have ever faced!" He dodged away, regrouping and made an attempt to regain the initiative.

"No heat, no blasts," she caught a punch and twisted his arm, snapping it. "And I'm betting no regeneration. You. Never. Were. Anything. But. An. Image." Every word was punctuated with a punch, a kick, and finally a throw. 

"Your chi stays the same!" she shouted, following him. The battered Saffron-Ken, managed to roll out of his uncontrolled flight. Akane halted and watched the stumbling landing of the fake phoenix. "No phoenix chi, no phoenix power." She stalked forward, still glowing.

"She really is going to kill him," Mousse realized suddenly. The kerchief came out again, and a beaten Ryouga was standing there. "Akane, stop!! You've won!"

"I never did know where my limits where," Ryouga-Ken snickered. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" The ground in front of Ryouga-Ken exploded into a cloud of flying dirt. When it passed Ken was nowhere to be found.

"Get back here, coward!!" Akane shouted. "You aren't getting away with this." Mousse landed behind her, grabbed her arms.

"Akane, he's gone!" the boy shouted. "He's gone!" Akane shrugged him off and punched into the ground.

"I thought you were taking the antidote to Ranma!"

"I came back in case you lost," Mousse explained. "Kodachi went on ahead, she should be there by now."

"Kodachi is going to bring Ranma the antidote?" she shouted, grabbing the nearly blind martial artist

"Akane," Mousse answered desparately. "you _ordered_ her to." He sounded more than a little bitter. The battle aura faded from Akane as she calmed down.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm just a little upset," Akane said. 

"A little?" Mousse asked himself quietly, he looked to the mini-craters pock-marking the field. They had all been produced by Akane's battle aura-enhanced footsteps.

"So much has been happening recently, nothing makes sense. Look at this, usually I'm the one in trouble and Ranma saves me!" Her face became determined again. "Well, I'm going to be there when he wakes up!" She rushed off towards the dojo, running full speed.

"Hey Mousse," the martial artist looked over after breathing a sigh of relief.

"Kasumi Tendo? Miss Unryuu?" Yuka and Sayuri stared at each other, momentarily confused.

"Not really," Yuka said. "It's Sayuri and Yuka. You haven't seen Shampoo and Nabiki around have you? We seem to have a lot of news for Nabiki."

"You are late, Shampoo," Cologne lectured as Shampoo walked into the store. "Where have you been?"

"I training, great-grandmother," Shampoo, lied. "Lose track of time. Where Mousse?"

"He and the Kuno-girl left to follow Akane Tendo." Shampoo tied the waitress apron around her waist.

"They hurt Nabiki-sister?" Shampoo asked, concerned. Cologne eyed her granddaughter carefully.

"And you are worried about your rival for Ranma's affections?"

"Nabiki not like people mess with her family," Shampoo said. "Other than her any way."

"Have you been with the Tendo girl again," Cologne asked. Shampoo sweated a little.

"Great-grandma say no see Nabiki again," Shampoo answered.

"I see," Cologne said. "I may have to speak to the Tendo girl myself. Shampoo, I can handle the café for now, perhaps you should see what's happening at the Tendo dojo. I think my son-in-law might be in trouble."

"Yes great-grandmother," Shampoo said happily. Cologne was no longer sure that her daughter was thinking of Ranma.

Ranma groaned as he saw another world come into focus. He hadn't yet found a way out of this mess. Every world that came up was another disaster. Each time he had lost Akane in some way, and virtually any other chance of happiness as well. In one dream he'd been stuck as a girl forever, and Akane of course left him. Then he was cured, and Akane still left him. His two forms were split twice, with Ranma stuck in one or the other. Once Akane chose Ranma's male form over the female, and the other time it was Ranma's female form over the male. She'd been poisoned by Kodachi, killed by Shampoo, Ukyou, and even Akari's pig! She had married Ryouga, Kuno, Sanzenin, Mousse, and the list went on. Ranma had ended up in any a number of situations ranging from prison to, he shuddered, married to Kodachi. Every new dream was a nightmare waiting to happen, and Ranma was by now very tired of it. The individual dreams didn't effect him much anymore, but the idea of being asleep forever was starting to take hold. He half wondered if killing himself in this dream would do any good.

"Great, Kodachi again," he grumbled as he saw the gymnast sort of stumble around the corner down the imaginary street. He ended the dream early, not wanting to deal with her just at the moment. When next the world reformed he saw two Kodachi's, one of them was the leering psychopath that he had seen in all the previous dreams. The other was more like the real Kodachi, which Ranma had to admit was much less extreme than the nightmare versions.

"Is _this_ the way you see me?" the "normal" Kodachi asked dryly.

"Who are you, woman, that you dare to mock the noble beauty of I the Black Rose of St. Hebereke?" the psychotic Kodachi shouted, hissingly. The dream world fluctuated suddenly and the psychotic Kodachi vanished with a wailing shriek. Ranma arched an eyebrow, this was different.

"Okay, so what's the game this time?" Ranma demanded. "Poison Akane, slip some sort of love potion in her soup, have her family sent to debtor's prison?" The scenery began to solidify as Kodachi's less protected mind began to vent a variety of worries that lay in the back of her head.

"Whatever _are_ you talking about?" Kodachi demanded. "I'm here to rescue you, my beloved."

"Rescue me…yeah, I believe that…sure…"

"Well, well, Saotome and the lady Kuno," both turned to face a demonically leering Copycat Ken. "I guess the noble bitch delivered the antidote after all." Ranma was confused, so far there was nothing directly related to his problems.

"But Mousse stayed to fight you," Kodachi stammered in denial. 

"Wait a minute," Ranma muttered.

"Yes, he did," Ken agreed. "Did you think either he or the Tendo girl could actually stop me." Ranma had assumed all this time that he was trapped in his own mind.

"That isn't a fake Kodachi," he realized. "And this is her nightmare. I've been going about this all wrong." He watched as the fake ken tossed a shattered pair of glasses at Kodachi's feet.

"Nooo!!!!"

"Great, I'm stuck in the spirit world with a lunatic," Ranma muttered.

"You are pathetic sister, perhaps you should train harder."

"Kodachi, Mousse is fine," Ranma said. "Your brother is in hiding. This is a dream."

"But, but…."

"It's no dream Saotome," the dream Ken asserted. Ranma rolled his eyes.

"You came here voluntarily, right? You've haven't woke up yet have you?" Ranma slashed his hand back and it passed through Kodachi's dream-Ken. "It's not real." We walked over and grabbed Kodachi by the shoulders. She didn't even try and glomp him, which told him exactly how scared she was. "Say it."

"It's not real," Kodachi repeated, shakily. Ranma swallowed, there was no way Kodachi would have lasted long in what ever place this was.

"Mousse is fine," Ranma said patiently.

"Mousse is fine," Kodachi repeated. Ranma breathed a sigh of relief, here's where he hit the experimental part of his plan.

"There is nothing here," Ranma said, imagining nothing.

"There is nothing here," Kodachi repeated. The scenery vanished around them, shattering into darkness. Ranma was no longer running story variations in his head, and he was doing his best to keep Kodachi's mind blank as well.

"Okay, I have a plan," Kodachi groaned in the darkness. "This one's a good plan!" he protested.

"I should not have taken that drug away from Nabiki, ne?" She asked, calming down.

"Never a good idea to get in Nabiki's way," Ranma agreed with a laugh. Then he was serious again. "Okay, now getting back. Uh, think of home." The scenery began to shift around him, into the Kuno estate. "Stop! Stop! Nothing here, nothing here." The area settled again into darkness.

"What was that supposed to accomplish," Kodachi demanded irritably.

"Hey, I'm doing the best I can okay!" Ranma retorted. "Okay, other ways to possibly describe going home."

"Ranma-darling," Kodachi asked shakily.

"What is it, Kodachi?" Ranma asked, resignedly as he tried to ignore her clinging to him.

"What is that?" Ranma turned around and saw something moving through the darkness. He could barely discern it was there, as if it was invisible or something.

"Nothing there," he said to himself. "Nothing there."

"Fortunately for you there is," the figure moved and then a head appeared, floating in the nothing. The head seemed familiar to Ranma, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Who are you?"

"Someone who can lead you home."

"So now we have two comatose martial artists," Ryoga shouted.

"It's not my fault!" Nabiki countered.

"It's the same as before," Kasumi sighed. Her father was sitting to the side wailing. "They're bodies will just waste away."

"You always know what's going on around here," Ukyou snarled. "Everything follows some plan of yours."

"I didn't want this, why would I want this?"

"Oh my son, how could you have fallen so low?" Genma shouted to nobody in particular.

"There's probably some money it for you somewhere."

"You think I'd do _this _for money?"

"Sugar, you'd do anything for money, don't deny it."

"Where's the money in this?"

"Then what's your explanation? How'd this slip past the great Nabiki Tendo?"

"I don't know," Nabiki shouted. "I don't know. I've missed a lot of things recently. I've been distracted." She winced, wrong thing to say to two people that thought she was dating Shampoo.

"Oh I get it now," Ukyou steamed.

"Ukyou…" Ryouga tried to verbally restrain the chef without much success.

"What do you get?" Nabiki demanded quietly and dangerously.

"You're too busy going to the movies…"

"Ukyou, we promised not to say anything."

"_You_ promised, I never did."

"That again?" Nabiki shouted. "Get it through your head, Shampoo is a client! She hired me to get Mousse off her back! She's not even a friend, got it? I don't have friends, if I went looking do you think I'd start with an air-headed bimbo like…"

"Nihao?" Nabiki suddenly choked, she turned around slowly.

"Sh-Shampoo? I didn't mean…"

"What Shampoo care?" Shampoo snapped angrily. "Shampoo only here to check on _Airen."_ The Amazon glared at Nabiki with that word, she hadn't even turned to look at Ranma yet. "Great-grandmother say something might happened to him. What you know about it?" Nabiki backed off a few steps and then slumped, staring at the floor.

"I'm sorry, Shampoo," she whispered, Shampoo flinched in surprise when she saw the other girl's shoulders begin to shake. "I…"

"Mousse!!" everybody leaped as Kodachi woke up with a scream. "Where's Mousse?"

"She's awake!!" somebody shouted.

"I heard Akane went to fight Ken," Everybody turned their attention to Ranma who was sitting up and working the crinks out of his joints. "Where?" He still wasn't certain this wasn't another dream, but he decided to chance it.

"The fight is over Saotome," Mousse stood in the doorway.

"Mousse!!" The master of hidden weapons blinked in surprise as Kodachi clutched at him. "I thought that freak had killed you!"

"Ranma!!" Akane rushed across the room and nearly engulfed him in a hug of her own. "You're awake."

"Shampoo?"

"I'm Kodachi you sightless idiot!" 

*thwack*

"Akane?" Ranma answered. "It is you, right, Not another dream or something."

"Baka," Akane responded playfully.

"Kawaiikune," Ranma answered, happy to be out of that nothingness. They snuggled, oblivous of the others around them.

"But what happened?" Genma asked. "Did Kodachi bring you back?"

"Some woman in black led us back," Kodachi answered, Mousse dizzily stood up behind her.

"A woman in black," Kasumi gasped. Soun looked up as well.

"You actually saw her," he said.

"Yeah, there was something familiar about her," Ranma said, him and Akane disengaging and trying to recover a little dignity. "Wanted to warn Nabiki, said Nabiki'd get lost if she 'projected' right now." Kodachi watched them restraining themselves and left, Mousse looked from where Kodachi exited to Ranma, confused. Then he followed the noblewoman.

"Wait, Kodachi!"

"Does that mean anything to…" Akane paused as she looked for her sister. "I thought Nabiki was here before."

"She was," Ryouga answered. "Did anybody see where she went?"

"No care where money-girl went," Shampoo hmphed.

"She must have slipped out while we were busy with the four of you," Ukyou decided. Kasumi left and soon walked back in carrying a note.

"I have things to do, I hope to be back. – N."

"Intentionally uninformative and vaguely threatening," Genma said. "This is definitely from Nabiki."

"There's more, here on the other side," Kasumi said. "Shampoo – Gomen nasai, you didn't deserve that."

Shampoo stared at the eldest Tendo and then walked through the wall, heading home. The sound of the wall collapsing was pretty much ignored by everyone else.

"What was that in there?" Mousse demanded. "You're supposed to be getting into Ranma's good graces." Kodachi stared blankly for a very brief moment, then laughed.

"He's was too concerned with _Akane_," Kodachi said quickly. "Perhaps a little jealousy would help?"

"So you just used me then?"

"I thought maybe it would work for Shampoo as well," Kodachi mumbled.

"Oh," Mousse muttered.

"You didn't really think I was worried about you," Kodachi asked. "I knew you could beat that fraud."

"Actually, Akane beat him." Kodachi blinked.

"She…did?" Kodachi blinked, a bead of sweat rolled down from her forehead.

No one seemed to pay him much attention as he stepped onto the plane, probably noticing the sling he had his arm in, but that wasn't very surprising. Lots of people took advantage of recovering from such injuries by going on vacation. He glanced about cautiously from behind a pair of black sunglasses.

"Damn that girl," he thought to himself. "Damn Saotome, damn all of Nerima!" He decided that this place was his curse. When the fighters had used more traditional techniques he'd been fine. Now, however, Akane Tendo was correct, the abundance of chi attacks left him vulnerable. He needed to do some actual training if he wanted to even think about taking on the Nerima elites again.

He sat in his assigned seat and continued to grumble.

"Excuse me," he looked up to see a tall girl with streaks of dyed blonde and an incredibly dark tan. She looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place her. "This is aisle 24, right?"

"Yeah, what of it?" he asked. The girl arched an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not in the mood, that's my seat over there," she pointed at the window seat.

"I apologize, apparently we've both had a bad day," Ken stood up and let her past. He was suspicious, there was something dangerous about this girl. He sat back down eyeing her carefully. "So what's your story?" She glared at him for a moment and then shrugged.

"I just discovered the love of my life," she said nonchalantly. "But there's no way they'll ever notice me."

"Uh…okay," Ken shrugged, and leaned back, keeping a suspicious eye on her, but avoiding further conversation.

[The Amazon and the Moneylender Contents][1]

[Part 5][2]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/aatm.html
   [2]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/shamnabi6.html



	6. Errors in judgement. A misplaced kiss. ...

The Amazon and the Moneylender, Episode 6

"Baksai Tenketsu Wave" was created for Ryouga by the author of The More Things Change and The Pursuit of Happiness I'm just borrowing it.

"Are you certain this plan will work?" Kodachi asked irritably. "It has been tried before."

"Yes but we're not delivering the food," Mousse pointed out. "We'll just drop the drug into whatever they are drinking or eating at the moment."

"This is so childishly simple," Kodachi hmphed. "I don't see how it can possibly work."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Not at the moment," Kodachi admitted. "But when this plan of your fails I'll be sure to remind you of this."

"I'm so thrilled." As they leaped away two couples stepped out from behind a wall.

"They're going to feed Shampoo a love potion?" Hiroshi and Daisuke stared at each other a moment and started off toward the Cat Café.

"Where do you think you two are going!" Sayuki shouted.

"Oh let them go, we'll just call ahead from those pay phones over there," Yuka pointed.

"Hello, you've reached the Tendo dojo," Kasumi answered the phone. "Kodachi?"

"OHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

"I think I hear her coming, love potion? Okay I'll tell him, thank you." She put the phone down, and saw Akane passing. "Oh Akane, Yuka says that Kodachi is going to try to slip some sort of love potion in Ranma's food."

"A what?!?"

"Yes it makes them fall in love with the first person they see for a few hours I think." Akane blanched and ran into the dining room.

"Ranma!! Don't eat anything!" She yelled as she entered into the dining room, just in time to see him taking a big bite with Kodachi watching eagerly. Thinking fast Akane wrapped a handkerchief over his eyes.

"Akane? What?"

"Yuka just called, she slipped something into your food." Ranma slumped.

"Not another love potion."

"You, Akane Tendo," Kodachi had produced her ribbon and was getting ready to fight. "How dare you impugn my honor and cast such aspersions on my name? I, Kodachi Kuno the Black Rose of St. Hebereke Girl's School am above such dishonorable tricks."

"Okay, that convinced me," Ranma muttered leaning his blindfolded head in his hand.

"How dare you, you are a guest in this house!" Soun declared, despite the fact her brother hadn't turned up she still hadn't gone back to her family's estate.

"I PAY RENT!!" Akane looked at her father.

"She's not serious is she?" Ranma asked. Soun and Genma looked embarrassed.

"Excuse me," Genma noted. "But she is still trying to drug you're beloved Ranma with a love potion."

"Give it a rest and stop pushing, Pop."

"Well, Akane Tendo, shall we settle this slander here and now?" Akane orbit kicked the gymnast through the roof. "CHEEAAPPP SHOTTT!!!!!"

"Now what's this about charging her rent?"

"Well, Akane, you know we need the money."

"We're sheltering her that pig of a brother of hers, and you CHARGE her for it?" Soun burst into a shame filled wail as Genma shrugged.

"Now, I understand where Nabiki gets it," Ranma muttered. Everybody shifted nervously knowing that Nabiki was still gone to wherever she had left two weeks ago.

"Sometimes I wonder who the adults are here," Akane muttered.

"You're late, boy," Cologne commented as Mousse walked into the Cat Café.

"Maybe if you actually paid me, I'd be here on time." The phone ringed.

"Don't push your luck boy, Cat Café. Love Potion? I see, would you hold please," Cologne turned to see where Shampoo was eating her lunch, of course Mousse was right where she'd see him first. Moments later Mousse was through the roof and there was a bag over Shampoo's head.

"Hey!"

"Why put bag over head?" Shampoo started to take it off when her great-grandmother thumped her on the head. "Oww!"

"Mousse slipped some love potion in your food, so leave the bag on for now."

"He what? Grrr…stupid Mousse." Cologne picked up the phone again.

"I assume the Kuno girl is attempting something similar at the Tendo dojo? I thought as much. Thank you." She hung up the phone and picked it back up and dialed. "Kasumi Tendo? I assume Kodachi has already been and gone? Good, I'm bringing Shampoo over, I think we should pool our resources for when those two come back."

Ukyou heard the phone ring again and rolled her eyes.

"Almost found it!" Ukyou flipped her soon to be Okonomiyaki and restrained herself from glaring at the amused costumers. Then phone ringed for maybe the tenth time. "I'm getting closer!" Ryouga's voice came from the storage area somewhere. The phone rang.

"Kamisama! You started five feet from it!"

The phone rang and cut off.

"Found it!"

"Finally," Ukyou grumbled, rapid cooking another okonomiyaki.

"Akane wants to know if we can come over to the dojo," Ryouga called.

"Why?" Ukyou asked, suspiciously. She remained a little jealous of Akane Tendo.

"Guard duty, Kodachi and Mousse slipped some sort of drug into Ranma and Shampoo's food."

"A love potion I guess," she mumbled to herself, then called back. "I guess we can pop by after we close Ucchan's."

Ken woke up as soon as he felt something cold and sharp pressed against his throat. He rolled his eyes up to look into the face of a rather anger looking woman leaning over him. She looked somewhat familiar, but the sun behind her drowned out the details of her face.

"Where do I know you from?" he asked, not in the least worried.

"Where did you learn about that drug?" she demanded.

"Drug? You mean the Breath of Nightmares?" The girl pressed her blade down a little harder.

"It's a family secret, so what are you doing with it?" Her head moved and obscured the sun, revealing more of her face.

"The girl from the airplane," he laughed. "Following me all the way to Jusenkyo?"

"You've caused my family a lot of trouble, I'd follow you over the world if I had to." She had actually heard him mention Jusenkyo, cut ahead and had been waiting for the last two days, but he didn't need to know that.

"Your family?" he asked, then noticed some of the make-up giving her the tan was dried and flaking off. Her hair was longer as well, and only partially blonde in places. His eyes narrowed, "You. A little out of your depths, aren't you? You're deadly as a plotter, Nabiki, not so good at fighting."

"I have things fairly well in hand at the moment." Ken laughed and rolled over, letting the knife stab past his neck and into the ground. Nabiki didn't have time to do more than start to react. Then she was under Ken.

"Do you? Looks fairly bad for you right now." The knife came out of the ground and laid against her face. "Now what were you planning to do with this?" Nabiki spit in his face.

"Why Shampoo chained to chair?" the blue-haired girl demanded angrily.

"Look at this, you've got me agreeing with Shampoo!" Ranma shouted from the next room.

"Until whatever drug the Kuno girl put in your ramen wears off," Cologne answered simply, then lifting her bowl up to drink some of the broth held in it. "Or until the son-in-law agrees to my plan."

"Is good idea!" Shampoo agreed vehemently.

"NOT A CHANCE!" Akane and Ranma shouted simultaneously.

"What harm would it do for Shampoo to be drugged into loving each other when they already do."

"I think you're wrong on two fronts there," Ukyou mumbled, she was sitting quite a bit out of Shampoo's possible line of sight.

"The plan has merits," Soun agreed. "Even if the old girl has the wrong pair in mind. What do you say Genma?"

"Yes perhaps Akane and Ranma should cement their true love with this drug." Ranma almost retorted, fortunately Akane beat him to the punch, shouting from the room with the girls.

"How can you call it true love if it comes out of a chemical!"

"What she said!" Ranma agreed.

"Shampoo kill crazy-girl and stupid-Mousse!" She hopped up and down in the chair she was chained too as she declared this.

"I'll help you there!"

"Maybe tomorrow," Ukyou told her, jabbing at her bowl of ramen and wishing it was an okonomiyaki. She narrowed her eyes, "Why haven't I heard Ryouga in there recently?"

"I believe he left to get a soda," Soun called back. "Though that was quite a while ago."

"HE WHAT!?!"

"Where did they move that blasted kitchen?" Ryouga scratched his head and turned about to get a fix on his location. At least that's what he called it.

"A WILD BOAR!! A WILD BOAR IS COMING!!"

"What?" Ryouga looked behind him in time to see a terror stricken pig stop about ten feet away from him and then start running in panic the other way. "Oh no…Ukyou's going to kill me."

"Hey, that kid is back. Are you still looking for Furinkan High?" At about that point Ryouga's newest piece of travelling gear started ringing at his side, he hesitantly grabbed the phone and held it to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked nervously.

"RYOUGA-NO-BAKA!!" the townspeople around Ryouga jumped a step back as Ukyou's enraged voice coming over the mobile phone.

"And who do we target first," Mousse asked Kodachi.

"Perhaps we should start with Shampoo," Kodachi suggested.

"Why her, you finally have Ranma where you want him."

"It's Ranma," he looked at her. "How many times has he fallen for this trick."

"It is not wise too delay, Saotome and Akane have been getting much closer since the Copycat Ken incident."

"My Ranma-Darling would never fall such a…a…common…girl."

"Saotome is much more common and banal than she is."

"Hmph, the way your lovely Shampoo keeps moping about and sniping at that usurer, one would almost think _that's _her direction of interest."

"How dare you even suggest that!"

"Have I, perhaps struck to close to home?" Mousse's eyebrows arched angrily behind his glasses.

"Oh and your cross-dressing love is the epitome of manliness?"

"Cross-dressing?! Why, I never!"

"Don't you know a Jusenkyo curse when you see one?"

"What the devil are you talking about?"

"Let's just trigger the love potions and argue about this later."

"Yes, we'll take them both at once."

"So Shampoo and Ranma have been given love potions, huh?" Both martial artists looked down to see Happosai. "Looks like its time to give Ranma a little bath?" He rubbed his palms together and smiled perversely, then he leapt off towards the dojo. "Ladies here I come!"

"Happosai?"

"Is that old pervert man voice?"

"Hmm this just got a little bit more complicated didn't it?"

"What's the old freak doing there!!"

"What is the master ever doing anywhere?"

"Ahh!! What did he do that for?"

"North, Ryouga, North!"

"Isn't us arguing how the rest of them learned about this plan?" Kodachi asked, genuinely curious.

"Stop the freak, get Shampoo and Ranma to fall in love with us, then argue." Mousse leaped off the roof and towards what was about to be total chaos. "Don't worry Shampoo, I'll save you from that wretched troll." Kodachi shrugged and followed.

"Ranma-Darling, it is Kodachi your love! OHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"

"Old freak get off Shampoo!"

"Akane dear, I'm so happy to see you!"

"Die, old man!"

"Aaackk!"

"Take the third fork Ryouga, the third fork!"

"Don't worry Shampoo I'm here to save you, aren't you supposed to be in that chair blindfolded?"

"Let go of me, boy, I'm….not that way!"

"KAMISAMA! I swear the only place you don't get lost is our bed!" The chaos stopped, everybody looked towards the oblivious Ukyou, even those that still couldn't see.

Ryouga blinked and pulled the phone away from him for a moment and looked at it.

"Ukyou, where are _you_?"

"The Tendo dojo with….every…one….else. Excuse me, I'll call right back." She hung up on him, for once he actually preferred his current position to hers.

Ukyou turned beat red and turned to face everybody else.

"Heh…heh….I didn't just say that out loud, did I?"

"Out with it girl," Happosai chuckled. "We want all the sordid details." Happosai was hit with multiple orbit kicks and was for the moment no longer a problem. Kodachi gestured to Mousse while the others were distracted.

"Always knew spatula girl tramp," Shampoo declared unaware of the pair sneaking up around her.

"I'm not a tramp!"

"Is not married, is tramp!"

"You're one to talk you…"

"Hey what do you think you're doing!" Akane rammed Mousse out of the way as Kodachi was removing the blind fold from Shampoo's eyes and Mousse was working on the chains.

"Finally, Shampoo no wear stupid…Shampoo never notice how beautiful Akane is." For the second time all sound battle ceased. She leaped from the chair, glomped Akane. "Wo ai ni."

"Shampoo what do you think you're…mmph?!!?" Akane was silenced by Shampoo's kiss. Suddenly Akane understood exactly how Ranma felt when Sanzenin had kissed him.

"Good thing the master isn't still here," Genma commented.

"What's that psycho doing to Akane!!!" Ranma-Chan shouted angrily.

"Sh-Shampoo?" Mousse fainted.

"Hey you…unhand my daughter!" Soun launched an attack and forced Shampoo back.

"You is obstacle and obstacles is for killing!" Shampoo declared as she launched forward at Soun. Ukyou noticed Kodachi trying to sneak off towards where Ranma was and stopped her with a slice of the spatula. Akane just stared blankly in shock, hair standing on end in places, and pupils shrunk to pin pricks.

"Kodachi, this is your mess," Ukyou was glad the attention was off her suddenly. "Perhaps you can help fix it."

"Me, how could I help you?"

"Sleep powders? Perhaps?" Genma suggested.

"I see, that might be a good idea." She handed Ukyou two packages. The chef stared at the gymnast doubtfully. "Mousse suggested I cut down."

"I wonder why I didn't think of that before?" Cologne asked herself as Ukyou blew some powder into Shampoo's face.

"But Shampoo no want to sleep, Shampoo want to…zzzz."

"Hmm it must have been just a general love potion," Cologne noted calmly, outwardly only a little concerned.

"Uhh….Sure!! That's it!" Ukyou agreed after a moment.

"What's happenin…zzz" Ranma-chan started before Genma tossed sleep powder into his face as well.

"This was certainly unexpected." Kodachi noted blandly. Akane blinked and then screamed, exiting the room long enough to retrieve a bokken from the main dojo.

"SHE'S GOING TO PAY!!"

"Whoah, Akane," Akane stared at Ukyou for a moment. "It was a love potion, his fault." The okonomiyaki chef pointed at the reawakening Mousse.

"You're right," Akane agreed apologetically, before suddenly filling up on rage again and beating on Mousse until he fainted again. "That'll teach him."

"Owww…" came the blind martial artists semi-conscious groan from beneath her. Fortunately for Mousse Akane had deliberately held back from causing real damage, just lots of pain.

"I told him this wouldn't work from the beginning," she sniffed. Akane glared at her.

"And what makes you think you're getting off this?" Akane snapped. "You _were_ after Ranma after all."

"He loves me already, what do I need drugs for?" Akane rolled her eyes as she walked out of the room, almost stalking.

A few hours later Shampoo woke up with a slight headache. She stretched, yawn and scratched her head. She looked around and realized that she wasn't at home.

"Why Shampoo at Ranma's home?" she asked herself. "That was strange dream."

"What dream was that grand-daughter?"

"Pervert-girl kiss Shampoo," and she looked confused, not very troubled, but thoroughly confused. "Strange dream."

"It wasn't a dream," Cologne told her. Shampoo blinked.

"I go kill Akane," she was surprised when Cologne stopped her.

"She didn't kiss you, you kissed her. Mousse's love potion was off target."

"I go kill Mousse, then." She turned to look at the unconscious form of the master of hidden weapons.

"Wait until he wakes up from Akane's beating, and get ready for…"

"SHAMPOO DID WHAT?!?"

"….Ranma's reaction."

"I can't believe you let me miss that!" Happosai's voice wailed. There was the sound of several thuds and a strangled cry of pain.

"WHAT GAVE YOU THE BRIGHT IDEA TO TELL HIM ABOUT IT!" this was followed by the sound a panda in pain. Shampoo sweatdropped.

"Shampoo go back home now," she said quietly.

"Hmmm, this could be interesting," Cologne said to herself. "Yes, that might be a good idea." After Shampoo left Cologne nudged Mousse.

"Huh, what?"

"If I were you boy," she said. "I'd be leaving right now."

"THIS IS ALL MOUSSE'S FAULT!" Mousse sweat dropped.

"Why are you helping me?" he asked before leaving.

"I'd rather not see Shampoo or the son-in-law charged with murder." He sweat dropped and was about to leave.

"You want to hurt him, you'll have to go through me!" Mousse stopped, turned around again and slumped. Then he rushed to the other room. Cologne arced an eyebrow.

"Stop, stop I'm here." Akane glared at him, Ranma looked about ready to tear him to pieces. Genma-panda was unconscious over to the side holding a sign that read, "Oww.."

"Are you crazy," Kodachi asked him, ribbon in hand. "Shouldn't you be running?"

"And let you shoulder all the blame, that would really impress Shampoo wouldn't it?"

"Shampoo, Shampoo! Always Shampoo! What anybody can see in that blue-haired bimbo I'll never understand."

"Oh, and you think that womanizing, muscle-bound Saotome is such a great catch?" Akane and Ranma blinked and looked at each other.

"Aren't we supposed to be getting mad at them?" Akane asked.

"And to think I ever worried about an insolent fool like you!"

Worry about me!" Mousse paused and his voice calmed down. "When did you worry about me?" Kodachi winced and blushed feverishly.

"Oh…don't pay any attention to that, I was just excited."

"Hey, over here!" Ranma shouted.

"You didn't think I could beat Copycat Ken!" Mousse realized suddenly.

"He _did_ beat you once before," Kodachi noted, a little smugly.

"I had him running last time!" It had actually been more like a draw, but try telling Mousse that.

"Can they even hear us?"

"Well no one was there to witness it were they?"

"Even _Akane _beat Ken!"

"Hey! What do you mean by _that_?"

As the argument continued, Ranma and Akane had ceased putting in their own complaints and sat down watching the two exchange insults awhile Soun and Genma-panda played Shogi and Kasumi prepared dinner.

"We don't sound like that do we?" Akane asked.

"Noble brat!"

"I don't think anything could get this boring." Ranma muttered.

"Blind idiot!"

Kasumi and the two fathers glanced at Ranma and Akane quickly and then returned to watching the argument.

"What?" Ranma and Akane asked them.

"Baka!"

"Crazy!"

"Fine, if you feel that way, I do not see why I should stand here and take that!"

"Fine, I'm going home! See you tomorrow!"

"I'll catch you at work then!" They both hmphed, turned back to back and stampeded off, completely unaware of the implications of their last angry outbursts.

"Weren't we going to do something when they finished?" Akane asked.

"Its been an hour of listening to them shout at each other," Ranma answered. "I almost forgot my name twice." They stood up and stretched while Soun and Genma-panda played shogi. 

"Oh, where did Cologne get to." 

"She went back to the Cat Café," Genma-panda's sign read.

"Oh that's right," Akane declared wearily. "I wanted to talk to Shampoo."

"I think I'll go along with that." They both narrowed their eyes.

"Dinner's ready," Kasumi called.

"Tomorrow," Akane suggested. "Should be interesting."

"Yeah, I wonder what Shampoo will do to Mousse."

"What do you mean the sun isn't setting yet?" Ukyou asked with mock annoyance. She had lost the initial annoyance Ryouga's getting lost produced, and a lot had been burned off by her embarassment earlier. Now all that was left was attempting to get Ryouga home in under a week. Then she could tease him about it later and of course teasing led to….she blushed and got back to the problem at hand. "You didn't get lost in a building or anything did you?"

"Yeah, there was this one really small one with a loud air conditioner," a sea's distance away Ukyou smacked her head.

"What is it with him and airplanes," she asked herself. "Okay, well it should be still past noon where you are, I hope, so just walk away from the sun."

"Uh, hold on a moment, Ukyou," Ryouga set the phone to the side and cracked his knuckles. "Baksai Tenketsu Wave!!" The cliff face in front of him vanished in series of explosions. As the last explosion was fading off he heard what sounded like people.

"Ryouga have you ever heard of going around the geography rather than through it?"

"Ukyou I think someone was on that cliff face!"

"Oh shit! Go! Go!" Ryouga was already hanging up and running through the newly created pass. He came out on the edge of a vast field of familiar pools with bamboo pools. The water of the nearest pool was stained red, blood red and the pool was half-sheared, half snapped at the top.

"Hello?" He turned to look back at the pile of rubble and saw someone half-covered in boulders. He rushed over and from there it didn't take long to uncover the only shallowly buried person. "Nabiki?" She was beaten and cut, and not dressed in her usual attire at all. She was in fact dressed much more like that ninja freak of Kuno's did, some sort of ninja night suit that had been cut into ribbons in the fall. He avoided looking too closely at the remains of her body, fainting from embarrassment wouldn't be a good thing right now.

Ryouga didn't pause to wonder what she was doing here. He checked her pulse and removed a bandana from his head. With the same hand he grabbed his canteen and pulled the cap off with his teeth. Damping the bandana he started to clean her wounds.

"Good pulse," he mumbled. Nabiki groaned, apparently coming to, as he wiped her face. He started upon seeing the cut clearly. "That was a knife." Nabiki's eyes fluttered open, but the focused motion showed she was still largely unaware of what was going on around her. He noticed that her right arm was twisted awkwardly, obviously broken, and it was something that could have happened in the rock fall but wasn't likely.

Reasonably certain that she wasn't going to die on him anytime soon, Ryouga scanned the area for the form of whoever else had to have been up there. His eyes latched onto the bloody spring and nodded grimly. Whoever it was had impaled themselves on that pool in falling off the cliff. They had then fallen into the spring. He looked down as Nabiki blinked away the last of her confusion. The girl suddenly fixxed him with such a vicious glare that he flinched.

"GET AWAY FROM FREAK!" She punched upward and caught the surprised Ryouga across the jaw. She tried to stand up and then fell down again, her legs battered in the fall.

"Nabiki, I'm Ryouga," the lost boy declared she fixxed him with that glare again.

"Why don't you just kill me?" Ryouga winced again, Nabiki was vindictive and bitter about a lot of things, but he couldn't remember doing anything that warranted this kind of behavior.

"Nabiki, whoever you were fighting they fell into that pool over there," Ryouga pointed. "Now maybe its time to get you to the nearest hospital." Nabiki frowned.

"You don't expect me to fall for this, do you Ken?"

"Copycat Ken," he thought, that explains why she doesn't believe I'm me. "Nabiki if I were Ken why would I need to trick you right now?" He looked back at the pool and saw a body coming to the surface, and walked over towards it, planning to pull the body out. Nabiki's punch drunk mind worked rapidly over the facts and came at last to the correct conclusion.

"It's Jusenkyo! Don't go in the water!" Ryouga halted and watched as the blood red pool swallowed Copycat Ken's, he could recognize it now, body again, then the water smoothed to a preternatural calm. The water suddenly looked like it was just waiting for someone to come to it. He turned back to face Nabiki who spoke with her usual manner, as if everything she said was obvious and it was a pain to have to explain it. If it weren't for the visible injuries, and an occasional gasp or pant, he could have sworn that she was fine.

"The Amazon village is not far," she said. The girl noticed the mobile phone in its belt pouch. It was one of those new satellite things that could be reached almost anywhere. It was most certainly Ukyou's idea.

"Medical care first," Ryouga insisted. He walked over to her and bent over to pick her up.

"What are you doing? Let go of me!" Nabiki shouted angrily, ineffectually and painfully resisting with her good arm and as much motion as her bruised legs would allow. "You'll get us lost!"

"You're not going to walk there like this," he answered. "Now just keep still before you kill us both. Point and I'll go that way, okay?"

"Put me down, now! I can walk well enough." She declared. Ryouga hesitated a moment and set her down. She glared at him and walked a couple of steps, faltering only once. When Ryouga moved forward to keep her from falling she glared at him. "Stay there, I can walk there fine."

"At least use the walking stick with my gear," he pointed to the pile on her left. "You're going to kill yourself." He saw the knife slash down the right side of her face start to bleed, as if someone had drawn a red tear line from the corner of her eye. He tossed a bandana over to her. "And try to keep that against your face." Nabiki took both offered items and limped slowly, painfully and stubbornly through the rubble.

Shampoo was looking forward to tomorrow when Mousse showed up for work the next day. Cologne had told her to make sure that he could still work, but she also gave her blessing to make work as hellish as she wanted. As long as business didn't suffer.

Shampoo yawned as she finished cleaning up from the day's business. It was odd, but the memory of kissing Akane did not disturb her as much as she would have thought. It was still somewhat fuzzy in her memory, perhaps that was due to that crazy-girl's sleep powder. Shampoo finished wiping down the table and sat down, staring off into space for a moment.

She yawned as she went over the events in her head again, the memories must have been warped by the day's fatigue, because it seemed more like a dream. This time Shampoo wasn't the only participant in the kiss, and the girl didn't exactly seem to be Akane this time. This girl was taller, had a slimmer build, brown hair and not black. In fact this girl bore a strong resemblance to….

"Nabiki?" Shampoo muttered softly. The girl pulled away and smiled that sly grin of the money-girl's.

"Wake up, girl," Cologne snapped passing through the lobby. Shampoo's head popped up from the table. 

"Shampoo awake!!"

"You're almost finished, try to hold out a long enough to walk to your bed."

"Yes great-grandmother," she answered cheerfully. Then the young amazon wiped off the last table and walked off to bed yawning. "Why I think about that stupid greedy money-girl?" she asked herself.

Ukyou leaped at the phone when it rang. She had been pacing back and forth anxiously since Ryouga had last hung up to go see if he had buried some poor tourist alive.

"Hello?"

"Hi Ukyou," Ryouga answered sheepishly.

"Ryouga, where are you? Did you kill any one? What's going on?"

"I found Nabiki." Ukyou hadn't expected that, she blinked. "And Copycat Ken. Ken's dead."

"How's Nabiki?" Ukyou asked.

"In bad shape, about like you were after…you know, I think Ken had attacked her. But there's….something…"

"What else?"

"She's acting strange."

"What do you mean strange?"

"She doesn't seem to be in control like she usually does." Ukyou could almost see the shrug. "Or at least she didn't before we got to the Amazon village."

"Can you put her on the phone?" 

"I can try," she could hear Ryouga walking on the other end. Ukyou waited a moment until Nabiki picked up the phone.

"Ukyou, hi," it was Nabiki's normal tone, if somewhat strained, though that could have been from the pain. "How's the restaurant?"

"Nabiki? You sound cheerful." Too cheerful, Nabiki could keep a great deal of emotion inside, but still. "What happened?"

"I don't remember." Nabiki said matter of factly.

"You don't remember," Ukyou repeated in disbelief. "How can you not remember, did you get hit in the head or something."

"I said I don't remember," Nabiki answered, irritably. "How would I know if I got hit on the head. The last thing I remember is waking up here with Ryouga and Shampoo's sisters outside the cabin….how is Shampoo?"

"She's fine, at least for now."

"Why do you say that?"

"One of Mousse's love potions had her kissing your sister," Ukyou said. "Neither Akane nor Ranma were happy."

"Hmm, it's a good thing I'll be coming back soon," Nabiki muttered over the line, Ukyou thought she detected some jealousy in there.

"Are you sure that you don't know what happened?"

"Yes, I'm sure," she was angry now. "And I don't think I _want_ to remember so get off my back."

"Don't push yourself girl, Ryouga said you were pretty bad."

"I know most of my limits," Nabiki answered as she waved over Ryouga and handed him the phone back. She wasn't sure of the last any more, she had made a mistake somewhere, or else she wouldn't be in such a bad shape. She'd be better once she got back to her domain, once she was home in Nerima, where she knew everything.


	7. The Mistriss of Nerima returns home.

The Amazon and the Moneylender Part 7

Ukyou blinked awake and groaned. She had obviously not quite figured out the technique. Otherwise she wouldn't be waking up from daze.

"Well that was a stupid idea," she muttered, gripping her head. She struggled out of the rope contraption and stood wearily to her feet. "Face it girl, there are some techniques you just don't practice alone. Especially not just because you want to kill a couple of hours." Looking around, she noticed it was daylight. That meant she'd been unconscious for quite awhile.

"Well, I'm lucky that's all that happened," Ukyou said. "I guess it's on to the Tendo dojo." She pulled out a hand mirror so she could make sure she at least looked clean after lying in the dirt for a while. She regarded her reflection only a moment before blinking and screaming.

"He's going to kill me," she sighed. "I can already hear the 'I told you so.' This is just perfect."

Ukyou sucked in her breath outside the door. This was going to be very embarrassing. 

"Oh, hello Ukyou," Dr. Tofu said as the chef entered his room. "What happened to your face."

"Well, you see," Ukyou started.

"It looks like you smashed your face into a large boulder."

"Uhh…It's just a black eye."

"Yes, but it has a very distinctive shape," Ukyou swallowed as he said it, just what she needed. "I'd almost say you were practicing the bakusai tenketsu technique without supervision, but even Ryouga didn't do that." Ukyou growled.

"Can you make it go away or not?"

"Go away? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, is there a chance that this will be gone by say," she thought about it for a moment. If Ryouga were on his own, she'd have plenty of time, but Nabiki would be there. "Tomorrow?"

"No, I'm afraid you'll just have to wait for it to heal," Dr. Tofu shrugged, he stood up and took a moment to circle her and probe her head. "Fortunately you don't seem to have any other injuries really."

"Thank goodness for small favors," she grumbled.

"Oh, hello Ukyou," Kasumi said as she opened the door to the nervously pacing chef. "Where's Ryouga? And what happened to your eye?"

"That's…embarrassing, hey where is everybody?"

"We're all here," the woman answered. "Do you want to speak to Ranma and Akane."

"As many of you at the same time as possible," Ukyou said.

"Well then, perhaps you should," Ukyou brushed past her quickly. "come in, oh dear." Ukyou came to the living room and saw that everybody was there. Akane and Ranma were sort of playfully insulting each other near the television while Genma and Soun were playing shogi. Aside from the obvious lack of Nabiki's presence everything was normal.

"Hey, Ucchan," Ranma called out as he saw Ukyou enter the room. "Is that a black eye?"

"Huh, yes," Ukyou admitted. "But anyway…"

"How did you get a black eye?"

"Uh, I was going to tell you…"

"Is it Kuno?" Ranma asked, eyes narrowed.

"No, I have not seen Kuno," Ukyou affirmed. "Anyway…"

"So how did you get the black eye then?" Ukyou sort of mumbled something.

"What did you say?"

"Bakusai Tenketsu," she mumbled. Then she continued in louder clear voice. "But I was coming to say…"

"You're taking the Breaking Point training?" Ranma blinked. "Wait a minute, you didn't have injuries before Ryouga got lost this last time."

"Okay, so I was trying to do it on my own," Ukyou admitted. "But…"

"You could have asked me to help," Akane suggested. "Or Kasumi, somebody to make sure you didn't get too hurt. Even Ranma could do that."

"Huh? What's that supposed to…"

"Ryouga found Nabiki!" Ukyou shouted, tired irritably.

"Oh, this is wonderful, " Kasumi said.

"How did that boy find anyone?"

"Well, she apparently tried to fight Co…"

"Copycat Ken!?!"

"Mousse should have let me finish him, 

"Oh my, is she hurt?"

"She sounded fine when I talked to her," Ukyou said. "And she's on her way back."

"Why didn't you say that in the first place."

"I've been TRYING," Ukyou growled.

"No offense, Ukyou," Genma noted. "But you don't seem very concerned about Ryouga traveling alone with Nabiki." Ukyou sighed exasperatedly, only Genma would consider bringing up a subject like that.

"I know there is no way Nabiki is going to try and seduce Ryouga," she said confidently.

"Actually I was talking about the financial danger." Ukyou looked at him for a moment and swallowed.

"I…hadn't thought of that."

"Ryouga, just _what_ do you think you are doing?"

"I'm looking for my Chinese money," he said. "We're going to have to pay for the plane ticket after all."

"Ryouga I can…" Nabiki's eyes popped wide as the first bundles of money started appearing.

"Ahh, here they are," he said. "What were you saying?"

"Oh, nothing, though I hope you don't mind that I made a few calls with your phone on our way here," she said, eyeing the bundles he was replacing. Ryouga regarded her suspiciously. At least she was acting normal again, that meant he had to watch himself of course. Of course, this was Nabiki, keeping an eye open wouldn't be very much help. "The counter is the other way."

"Oh, heh," he sweatdropped and then stepped into line. Looking back Nabiki was still eyeing him speculatively, scratching at the edges of the bandage on her face. He grinned nervously and sweatdropped.

"Sir," the counter attendant said in Chinese. "May I help you?"

"Two tickets to Tokyo, please," he answered. The attendant's mouth dropped as Ryouga started laying down the cost of the tickets in large bills.

"Where do you get your money?" Nabiki asked him politely.

"Inheritance."

"Stop," Ryouga halted in mid step. "Maybe it would be better if I took the lead perhaps?"

"Errr…heh."

"Now, on to more important matters," Nabiki pulled a calculator out of somewhere, probably related to the same dimensional pocket where mallets and bandannas resided.

"What you doing here?" Shampoo asked irritably. Ukyou arched an eyebrow as she cast her eye about the competition. "What happen to face?"

"Not this again."

"Kuonji-san, you look like you lost a fight."

"Either that or that's the biggest hickie I've ever seen," Kodachi laughed.

"None of those are in view," Ukyou retorted, then turned beet red.

"What?" 

"Never mind, what I was…"

"You seem to have acquired Ranma's foot in mouth disease," Mousse noted.

"Can we just forg…"

"So what DID happen?"

"Ukyou," the chef rounded on the short, ancient Amazon. "Has Ryouga been teaching you the Bakusai Tenketsu?"

"How did….?"

"I've been training Amazons for nearly my entire three hundred years," the old-ghoul cackled. "You learn to recognize the signs."

"She should no know breaking point."

"Ryouga has mastered the technique beyond anything I have heard of," Cologne noted. "It is his to teach as he sees fit, but perhaps she shouldn't be trying to practice without someone to watch her."

"Alright, alright, so I was stupid!"

"And what were you here for anyway, girl," Cologne asked. "It most certainly wasn't to embarrass yourself. This could have something to do with Nabiki returning?"

"How did you…?"

"You can feel it," Cologne said, nebulously. In truth she could tell by the hidden flurry of activity in Nabiki's network, but Cologne liked to give everything a mystical appearance.

"Why you bother telling us," Shampoo hmphed.

"Yes, she is coming back," Ukyou confirmed, eyeing Shampoo. "Ryouga found her in China…fighting with Ken." Shampoo dropped her platter. "Yeah, she really doesn't care." Ukyou thought sarcastically.

"Oh, stupid money-girl," Shampoo snapped.

"Nabiki Tendo…fighting?" Kodachi blinked.

"That would be like one us trying to take over Sony."

"Was she seriously hurt?" Cologne inquired.

"She sounded fine," Ukyou said. "Ken's dead."

"Good, the little-imitator deserves that," Kodachi hmphed.

"Well, this will make our task a little more difficult," Cologne sighed. "But it is good news nonetheless."

"Yeah, just thought you should know," Ukyou waved, about to leave and then paused and turned around. "Wait a minute, he works here, they live here, and why are _you_ always here now?"

"Just _what_ are you talking about," Kodachi demanded.

"We double-check food while she here."

"Yes, it is getting moderately nerve-racking."

"You've never found anything," Mousse noted.

"Never mind, I don't have the time right now," Ukyou said walking out waving her hands dismissing the situation.

"Well, I never," soon after the chef left, a school girl walked in. Yuka smiled as she walked up to Cologne.

"You don't seem to be here for the food, girl," Cologne said.

"Actually, I'd like a ramen special, to go please," the girl directed an envelope towards Cologne. "The chief gave me a message for you."

"I see," Cologne took it and opened the envelope, reading the contents. "Thank you, Shampoo see to her ramen please."

"Yes, great-grandmother," Shampoo grumbled. "Stupid money-girl not send me letter." Kodachi and Mousse eyed the envelope curiously, wondering just what correspondence Nabiki could have with the old ghoul. Any cooperation between those two was likely to be incredibly dangerous.

"Intriguing," Cologne said, "I'll agree to meet with her."

"Sugoi," Yuka smiled wider as she smelled her ramen on its way. "Arigatou." She waved upon leaving the restaurant.

"You're busy today," Kodachi noted. A bowl of ramen appeared in front of her. "What's this?"

"As long as you are here you should at least look like a customer," Cologne noted.

"Thank you, I think," Kodachi and Mousse glanced at each other and then the bowl of ramen. As Cologne walked off she muttered. "What goes around comes around?"

"I wouldn't put it past her," Mousse said. They both glanced at the bowl of ramen suspiciously.

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Well, it works better before the bruise develops," Akane admitted. "But it couldn't hurt."

"So you've done this before?" Ukyou asked.

"Actually, no," Ukyou lifted the steak off her face to stare at Akane. "I've seen Ranma do it though."

"You're telling me that this is a RANMA plan?"

"Hey," Akane snorted. "Considering how many fights he gets in you'd think he'd know something about this."

"Okay, that's a good point," Ukyou admitted.

"And why are you so concerned anyway," Akane asked.

"I do have my pride."

"Well, just put the meat back over your face and let that bruise soak."

"Yeah, yeah," Ukyou grumbled. 

"So why aren't you worried about Nabiki and Ryouga traveling together?" Akane asked.

"Uh…" Ukyou tried to come up with a good answer that didn't involve telling Akane that her sister had a thing for Shampoo.

"I mean none the girls around her a very good when it comes to jealousy," Akane thought about that for a moment. "Well except for Kasumi."

"When has Nabiki ever shown the slightest amount of interest in any of the guys around here?" Ukyou asked. "And as for Ryouga, he's way too…."

"Naïve?"

"Well close enough."

"Hey, Ucchan," Ukyou waved cheerfully as she saw Ranma and Akane walking outside the Tendo dojo. Akane had been right, the bruise had come down a little, it was still there, maybe he wouldn't recognize the source. Then she could make a less embarrassing story.

"Hey guys," she looked around. "Anybody seen Shampoo."

"Why would she want to come?"

"Oh, no reason."

"Hmm, something smells like beef." Ukyou blinked and sniffed the air. Then she glared at the sweatdropping Akane.

"Thanks for the advice, by the way."

"Uh….no problem," Akane said nervously.

"Okay, what'd I say now?"

"Let's just get to the airport," Ukyou snapped. "Okay?"

"Ah, terra firma," Nabiki said happily. She maintained her grace and dignity despite the stiffness left over from various cuts and bruises.

"This is Japan right?" Ryouga asked.

"Of course it is," Nabiki hmphed. "And if I'm not mistaken that girl with the sunglasses over there is Ukyou." The crowd cleared a little, and then they could see everybody there waiting for them. Well, Ukyou, Ranma and the Tendos at any rate.

"I wonder why she's wearing sunglasses," Ryouga wondered. Nabiki sighed irritably.

"Hey guys," Ukyou called out cheerfully, if somewhat nervously. Ryouga arched an eyebrow trying to see past the sunglasses.

"Oh NABIKI!!" The middle Tendo had just enough time for her eyes to pop wide before her father glomped her. "You've come home!!" The man let loose with the water works, threatening to drown the lot of them.

"Oh, Father is so happy," Kasumi sighed.

"Hey, Mr. Tendo you're crushing her!" Ranma shouted.

"Dad, let go!"

"It is so GOOD to see you home, safe and sound." 

"I'm happy to be home too, Daddie," Nabiki gasped. "Now perhaps….you can put me down?"

"Does anybody smell beef?" Ryouga asked, and the turned to see Ukyou growling. "What did I say?"

"Long story?" Ukyou glared at where Akane and Ranma were trying to pry her father off her sister. When they finally succeeded, the four of them went flying over the airport floor and into the other people around them.

"Well, thus concludes the downfall of my dignity," Nabiki grumbled, dusting herself off. "Ukyou, what _did_ you do to your face?"

"If you don't get off of me right now…" Ukyou let it trail off. Nabiki shrugged and stood up, getting a little help from Kasumi as she did. Apparently the eldest sister was the only one to escape the tumble.

"Please do not get paranoid on me now," Nabiki lectured, enjoying the chance to tease Ukyou a little. The chef had certainly been rather annoying to her of late. Ukyou grabbed her sunglasses and stood up glaring at the middle Tendo.

"Okay," Ranma asked as he dusted himself off. "What was that about?"

"Don't ask me," Akane commented. "I think it is perfectly logical to be paranoid of Nabiki."

"Thanks for the kind note, sis," Nabiki rolled her eyes.

"Ack!" Ryouga shouted and pointed to Ukyou as she slipped on her sunglasses. "What happened to you?"

"Grrr…"

"Oh, uh we were sparring," Akane said. Ukyou glanced at her confused before catching on.

"Oh yeah, that's right."

"Sparring? That's n…" Akane and Ukyou snapped glares at Ranma and Kasumi sort of stared at him. Nabiki, not knowing what was going on, shrugged and answered the unspoken call for female solidarity. "Yeah, Akane got lucky."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Akane demanded icily.

"Ukyou never saw it coming," Ranma suggested, cautiously.

"Are you saying I'm a weak martial artist?" Ukyou growled.

"But…"

"Did you just insult Ukyou, Ranma?"

"Would you all just leave me alone?!?" And everybody laughed. "Ha ha, very funny."

"Hmm, you two should be more careful _sparring_," Nabiki commented in manner that told Ukyou: "I'm going to learn what really happened, and you can't stop me."

"Okay, now that everybody is collected," Ukyou declared. "Let's get to our respective homes, Ucchan's is supposed to open in another two hours, and I'll need some of that time to get him home," Ukyou jabbed a thumb at Ryouga.

"How lost can I get with you right here?" Everybody looked at him and stared.

"Ryouga," Ranma started. "Do you seriously want one of us to answer that?"

"Uh…..no."

"Has anyone figured out where the beef smell is coming from yet?" Soun asked. They had to restrain Ukyou from attacking him.

Shampoo yawned and blinked clear her eyes as she woke up. It was time to get up and get the restaurant ready for business. She walked wearily into the front room after getting dressed, walked past the dining area to get some dishes ready and turn on the ovens.

Before Shampoo reached anything she walked back and looked into the dining room again. At first she thought that she was just more tired than she had originally thought, but there they were. The two of them were still staring at that bowl of ramen.

"Well, do you think we should try it?"

"We'd have to reheat it first."

"Maybe she's waiting for us to do that."

"You two here all night?!?" Kodachi and Mousse looked up from the bowl of cold ramen.

"What?"

"I have work to do, Kasumi," Nabiki insisted.

"One of your friends can fill in for you," Kasumi countered handing Nabiki a cup of tea.

"There are some things that require a personal touch," Nabiki sipped her tea.

"They'll just have to wait," Kasumi said. "You're battered, bruised, cut up, and I think you have a sprained muscle or two here or there."

"I could leave anytime I wanted to."

"Nabiki, Mother taught us both," Kasumi said sweetly. "Apparently you did not listen well enough to her on the subject of direct confrontation."

"Ken was a judgement error," Nabiki admitted. She suddenly arched an eyebrow and looked at her cup of tea and then looked up. "You didn…" Nabiki slumped forward onto the table.

"Oh dear," Kasumi gasped, spilling the tea. "Could someone help me with Nabiki."

"What happened," Akane asked as she appeared to help Kasumi carry their sister to her room.

"She must be more tired than she looked," Kasumi shrugged as they left the room. About two minutes later Nabiki cracked open her eyes.

"I'm in better practice," she hummed, spitting the drugged tea into her trash can. She was gone through the window in moments. It didn't take her long to find Sayuri and Yuka.

"Pleasant day, isn't it?" The two girls nearly jumped out of their skins, turning to stare at where she had apparently come out of no where.

"Chief?"

"What happened to you?"

"I did something rather stupid," Nabiki commented. "What was the old ghoul's answer?"

"She agreed to meet with you," Yuka noted. Nabiki smiled.

"I thought she might, Kuno and Sasuke?"

"No one has seen them."

"Interesting," Nabiki noted. "Anything else I should know about?"

"Ukyou Kuonji is learning the bakusai tenketsu."

"Hmm, that explains some things," Nabiki muttered. "Make a quick search for the finances of the Hibiki family, world wide if you can."

"Sure, Chief," Sayuri declared cheerfully. She turned to face her leader. "Anything el….where'd she go." Yuka looked up from her soda.

"When is she going to teach us how to do that?"

"Is there a reason you two are staring at that bowl of cold ramen?"

"We're trying to decide of whithered old crone put something in it," Mousse said without looking up.

"Ah, the fun I miss by leaving town," Nabiki snickered. Kodachi and Mousse blinked, then shivered as a slight chill passed over them. They looked up to see Nabiki standing over them.

"Nabiki Tendo?"

"Ukyou did tell you I was coming back," Nabiki asked. "Didn't she?"

"Yes, but you're traveling with that directionally-impaired barbarian."

"Public transportation is an amazing thing," Nabiki smiled. "I can solve your problem for you."

"Really?" Mousse and Kodachi glanced at each other. "How is that?"

"Five hundred yen."

"Indeed," Kodachi sniffed. "You can't be serious."

"That's my price, wait too long and it goes up."

"You don't really expect us to pay five hundred yen for a little advice, do…."

"One thousand yen," Nabiki smiled. Mousse blanched.

"We don't really need help," Kodachi suggested. "We can figure this out by ou…"

"Two thousand yen."

"Be reasonable!" Nabiki opened her mouth as if to speak.

"DEAL!" Kodachi and Mousse shouted

"Money please," the girl asked. After digging into their pockets and handing over the asked for amount, Nabiki quietly counted the money,

"Well?" Kodachi sat there tapping her foot angrily.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want something?" Nabiki asked.

"How do figure out if this is safe to eat or not?"

"Yes, I'm moderately hungry and sleepy after trying to figure this out since yesterday morning." Nabiki sweatdropped.

"The solution is perfectly simple," the Tendo told them arrogantly. "Just dump the ramen and make some of your own." Mousse and Kodachi blinked and glanced at each other.

"Why didn't _you _think of that?" they snapped.

"Well, thanks for the…" Nabiki snapped quiet as Shampoo's irritated face popped around a corner. "…Shampoo." The amazon glanced at her and for brief moment Nabiki could have sworn she saw Shampoo's face soften. Then the irritated expression returned.

"Stupid money-girl should be home in bed," the amazon snapped. "Not bugging Shampoo."

"You sound like my sister," Nabiki sniped, well Shampoo was still angry at her. "Where's Cologne."

"Great-grandma in back," Shampoo answered.

"Why are you talking to that old crone?" Kodachi demanded. Nabiki smiled slyly at her.

"Well now, that is an interesting question, tell me when you figure it out." Then Nabiki walked to the back of the restaurant.

"Not stay too long," Shampoo ordered her. Nabiki turned towards Shampoo, but noticed Kodachi and Mousse looking on. Those two were bound gossip a little too much for Nabiki's taste. The Tendo girl settled for shrugging her shoulders unconcernedly.

Cologne was sitting down across from her and Shampoo's television smoking her pipe and just waiting quietly. She looked up as Nabiki walked in and stiffly sat down.

"You appear to have been caught in a rock-slide," Cologne noted, laughing.

"How very observant of you," Nabiki retorted irritably. "But I don't think we have much time."

"Before you make your offer," Cologne exhaled a fine cloud of smoke. "What is your interest in this affair?"

"Quite simply, I want to see both my sister and Shampoo happy."

"How is Shampoo your concern?" Nabiki smiled and laughed quietly.

"I've already told you, happy customers spend more money."

"As you wish," Cologne shrugged. "What is this plan of yours." Nabiki retrieved a small flask from her pocket and opened it.

"There is some risk to this plan," Nabiki admitted as she poured a small stream of water out of the bottle. The water rolled over a spoon, which warped, twisted and split, leaving behind two spoons. "It has been proven in the past that mixing springs has unpredictable effects."

"How very interesting," Cologne smiled. "And would you perhaps have any other types of water?"

"Of course," Nabiki smiled. "But one thing at a time, Ranma will obviously know something is going on. If it is known that Jusenkyo water is in Nerima?"

"If this works, both our families should be happy," Nabiki didn't finish the thought. "Assuming Ranma has any feeling at all for Shampoo."

"As you said, this could have unexpected results," Cologne shrugged. "But it is an acceptable risk considering the possible gain. How shall we go about the implementation?"

The sound of laughter drifted quietly back into the dining room.

"We need to keep an eye on them," Mousse decided.

"Do they really think that they're pathetic plotting can thwart the Black Rose?" Kodachi asked. "OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!" A rag flew through the air and covered Kodachi's face.

"Crazy-girl scaring all customer!"

Nabiki smiled predatorily as she walked out of the cat café unnoticed.

"Wow, the lost boy is back already," Hiroshi commented as he caught sight of Ryouga wondering the back rooms of Ucchans.

"Damn," Daisuke muttered. "I was hoping for at least a month of fantasizing about Ukyou without him getting in the picture."

"Excuse me?" They looked up to see Ukyou, and prepared to die. "Can I take your order?" They both visibly relaxed.

"How about that beef okonomiyaki that smells so…" Ukyou growled at him. "Did I say something wrong?" The spatula came out.

"Run….NOW!" They didn't argue. In their rush they collided with someone on the way out. 

"Uh sorry, but we have to…" Daisuke shut up as he saw just who he had knocked down. Nabiki glared up at them. "But, but…sorry." The two attempted to break the sound barrier in their retreat.

"Nabiki?" Ukyou saw the girl irritably trying to stand up. "Do you need a hand?"

"Hey, Ukyou! Where's the dining room?"

"I'll be there in a moment, Ryouga!"

"If you please," Nabiki grumbled reaching out to take Ukyou's offered hand up. "I'm all right if I can get to my feet."

"I didn't notice you until you hit the ground," Ukyou said. "Shouldn't you be in bed or something?"

"Everybody seems to think so," Nabiki grumbled, she took a moment and nearly fell again. "Though, I think I'll sit for a moment."

*CRASH*

"I found the closet…" Ryouga's voice called out. "Ouch."

"Okay I have to go find Ryouga," Ukyou said frustratedly as Nabiki took a seat at the counter. "So I'll be right back."

"Hey, Ukyou," Nabiki said as the chef was starting to leave. "A full minute without acting like I'm going to jump you, congratulations." Ukyou looked flustered for a moment before leaving to hunt down Ryouga. 

Nabiki laughed a little and stretched, all this walking around was getting a little painful. From Joketzoku to the closest airport she had mostly ridden in carts and automobiles, plenty of time to rest for the brief periods of activity in between. Still she wasn't in as bad a condition as she could have been, nor anywhere near as bad as Ukyou was immediately after Kuno snapped.

"Okay, here we are," Ukyou said indicating the dining area. "Now please just stay in the front for the next little while."

"So how is your training coming Ukyou?"

"How did you know?" Ryouga and Ukyou both asked at once.

"Oh please," Nabiki started ticking points off on her fingers. "You no longer spend all your time plotting to get Ranma to love you, you are a dedicated martial artist, despite recent distractions, and your boyfriend is one of the two best trained fighters in the area. I thought you might be trying to catch up on lost training time."

"Well, since you put it that way," Ukyou said nervously. "Training is going fine."

"We've started the breaking point," Ryouga said proudly. Ukyou craned her neck and glanced innocently at the ceiling.

"So is Ukyou teaching you any of her techniques?" Ukyou and Ryouga had a sudden image of the Tendo girl recording everything they were saying.

"A little," Ukyou admitted and left it at that.

"All right then," Nabiki recognizing the signal for silence passing between the two lovers. "I'll have a beef okonomiyaki." Ukyou's eye's popped wide angrily and she quickly worked up a beef okonomiyaki, setting it before the smiling Nabiki.

"What is it with you and the word beef today?" Ryouga asked curiously.

*CLANG*

"You do realize that thirty percent of your customers order the beef okonomiyaki," Nabiki reminded her. "Don't you?"

"Yeah, I suppose that I can't chase off everyone that…" Ukyou paused. "Wait a minute, how did you know….?" Nabiki smirked at the shocked look she was getting from Ukyou. Here was the proper form of paranoia to be treating her with.

"Well, that was excellent as always," Nabiki commented. "But I should be getting home soon." Nabiki stood up stiffly, smiling, and walked out of Ucchan's waving to the dazed Ryouga and shocked Ukyou.

Nabiki slipped quietly into her room and smirked, noticing that the doll she had placed there was undisturbed. Kasumi apparently had faith in her sleeping draught. So it would probably be a while before news trickled back to her older sister and this day's wanderings were discovered.

"You need to practice more, sis," Nabiki laughed. Nabiki was moderately surprised. Even more so than herself, Kasumi was always there and unnoticed. Of course, when she did make her presence known, Kasumi had an influence that could bowl over king kong. Nabiki had always excelled at intelligence gathering and manipulation. These were areas of their art Kasumi had no real interest in. Still, she hadn't thought that she could fool her sister for the length of time she had.

Kasumi was right, of course, she did need to get some rest. She stuffed the old dummy, long unused until today, and lay back into the nice, comfortable blankets for some sleep. She was unconscious by the time a figure walked softly from an unlooked corner out through the room's door.

"Good night, Nabiki," Kasumi whispered quietly. The eldest Tendo saw no reason to dash Nabiki's ego at the moment. The multiple flasks of water that had been transferred from Nabiki's pack to her drawer remained completely unseen by anybody other than their current owner.

[][1][The Amazon and the Moneylender Contents][1]

[Part 8][2]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/aatm.html
   [2]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/shamnabi8.html



	8. A wilted rose needs help living.

The Amazon and the Moneylender part 8

"Miss Hinako?" Ranma blinked at what appeared to be a over-sugared little girl. The teacher's child form could wear Azusa down. "What are you doing here?"

"Saotome-san, is Tendo-san home?" Ranma breathed a sigh of relief, she was just here to try and talk to Akane's dad.

"Nah, he and pops went to a 'town meeting'," Ranma shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"In that case…" Ranma did not like the sound of that. "Are you ready for your make-up class?"

"Make-up class?" Ranma asked nervously. "When I have I been absent recently?"

"Oh, don't you remember?" the child-like teacher asked sweetly. "You fell asleep in one of your classes and never made it to history."

"But that was weeks ago!" Ranma blubbered. The teacher crossed her arms and tapped her foot angrily.

"Are you going to come to your tutoring session or do I have to drag you?"

"You got bored," Ranma asked resignedly. "Didn't you?"

"Saotome-san, please do not make such accusations," she sniffed. "Its disrespectful."

"Okay, I'm coming," he sighed. "Let me get my books."

"What?!?" she facefaulted. "You're NOT going to fight me?"

"No, don't feel like it."

"Meanie." The teacher pouted in the hallway while the teenage martial-artist collected his books.

"Oh, hello Kodachi," Kasumi smiled as the dark-haired girl strode into the living section of the Tendo dojo. "We missed you at dinner yesterday." Kodachi blinked, there was something about the eldest Tendo that made her feel…regretful. She did not miss the mild reproach in the young woman's voice though.

"I was doing nothing improper," she insisted, proudly. Embarrassing was another matter, if Tatewaki had heard about such idiocy as with that bowl of ramen. She shivered, and Kasumi glanced at her curiously.

"You seem……sleepy," the quiet girl noted. "Perhaps you should go to bed."

"It is hardly past noon," Kodachi retorted. "I can last for a few more hours until a proper bed time. And where is Ranma?" Kasumi turned a sweet smile on the girl, and nobody aside from Nabiki or Cologne would have caught the hint of suspicion in her eyes.

"Tutoring session at the school," she answered. Kodachi paled almost imperceptively.

"But, it's a free day."

"Miss Hinako was quite insistent." 

"And everybody else?"

"Nabiki is finally getting some rest, my father and Mr. Saotome are at a 'town meeting'," Kasumi noted the gymnast eyes widen slightly at each absence. "And Akane is practicing in the dojo." All the arrogance and coldness returned in an instant.

"I suppose she needs it," Kodachi laughed walking off in that direction. "After all, she is not a Kuno. She needs all the help she can get. OHOHOHOHOHO!!!"

"Training is a good idea," Kasumi agreed. "If you are fully rested." 

"Why would I lower myself to train with her?" Kodachi asked. "Besides, a real match is so much more productive."

"Perhaps it was your choice of training partners." Old habits flared in Kodachi.

"My brother was an exceptional teacher," she declared proudly. "I was clumsy, I didn't learn quickly, I..." she snapped her mouth shut.

"Your brother is a psychotic maniac," Kasumi said sweetly. The quiet woman bowed slightly and returned to the kitchen. "Try to get some rest soon." Kodachi didn't try to argue. She walked quietly into the dojo proper. She almost instantly felt a surge of envy at seeing Akane run through katas. It was a further reminder that Kodachi was the lowest end of the martial artist totem pole around here.

"Damn that baka," Akane grumbled. "How are we supposed to get anything done with him stuck in class?" Akane spent several minutes complaining about Ranma in general while she ran katas. She didn't notice Kodachi watching her, and fidgeting nervously. The gymnast was reminded of something several years back, about the time she managed to achieve a level of perfection that kept her brother off her back, others would have said "when she finally snapped," but Kodachi hadn't been in her right mind for close to five years.

Kodachi listened to Akane rant about Ranma for several minutes. Each "insult" took a little more hope from her. There was frustration and anger, of course, but there was also affection and a little concern. Kodachi had always caught it in her rival's speech, but now it was stronger. Recent events had forced her to face such feelings recently, and she had accepted them apparently. Kodachi finally latched onto one idea, maybe, if she were as good as Akane. 

The gymnast stood up and cautiously took stance a few yards behind Akane. The shorter girl in her yellow gi quickly and flawlessy ran through a simple kata. Kodachi attempted to imitate it, but she had never fought without weapons before. She felt dangerously clumsy. It took her about twice as long as Akane, to finish it. She was about to try again before she noticed that the Ranma-bashing had silenced. She looked up nervously to see Akane watching her critically and a little suspiciously. They all did that, watched her like a cat arching its back at another cat.

"You're not doing that quite right," Akane said simply. The gymnast defiantly shifted into a stance she knew much better, producing a ribbon from where it had been hidden in her dress. "Whoah!" Kodachi snarled viciously as she whipped her ribbon at the surprised Akane. 

"I'm not going to be trained by anyone, anymore!" Kodachi yelled as Akane ducked under her ribbon and closed. The gymnast barely had time to blink before Akane rose up inside her reach and snatched the ribbon away. Kodachi flipped backwards a few times and turned to face Akane, and didn't find her. Kodachi froze when she felt someone tap her on the back of the head.

"What was THAT all about?" Akane grumbled walking around in front of the gymnast. Kodachi was confused when Akane simply shifted back into stance. "Start like this. Well? If you're going to be practicing behind me at least do it right."

Kodachi nervously took the stance indicated, she recoiled as Akane approached her.

"What's the big deal?" Akane demanded, dropping into a battle stance herself. She relaxed at the look Kodachi was giving her. She wasn't very worried, she had improved over time, and Kodachi had not. Outside rythmic gymnastics and dirty tricks she had never been much of a threat anyway. "Now do you want to learn anything or not?"

"I'm through with training," Kodachi declared arrogantly. "What does a born talent like a Kuno need with training." Akane merely tapped her foot, irritably.

"Are you going to take stance again or not?" Akane demanded. Kodachi slowly, reluctantly took stance again. Akane circled her and looked on critically. She took Kodachi's forward arm and shifted it into proper position gently and firmly. She then turned her attention on Kodachi's shoulders and other arm.

"That's better," she muttered. "You got the legs positioned right, must be the gymnastics. Turn like this a little more." Kodachi hesitated and then did so, her muscles tensed, but she recognized the sensation. This was an unfamiliar stance, but it wouldn't take long before she developed the proper muscles. She watched Akane's movements with her eyes cautiously. The Tendo stood beside her a few feet and took the same stance.

"This is what you call….training?" Kodachi asked nervously. Akane gave her a questioning look, and then it seemed as if the shorter girl remembered something, and her bored and suspicious look softened slightly.

"Hey, I'm bored, and it's always better to practice with someone," Akane said. "Now the first movement goes like this…" Kodachi watched as Akane twisted her body forward.

"Is there not a strike in that?"

"One thing at a time," Akane said irritably. Kodachi blinked and tried to duplicate the motion, she inwardly cowered as Akane watched her, obviously seeing something wrong. "You almost got it, slow down a little for now."

"Like this, sensai?" Kodachi asked, unconsciously using the title. Akane blinked at the question, then she shrugged and the critical expression returned to her face.

"Okay, that's good. Now try it again."

"Hai."

"Can't you be the least bit disorderly?"

"All that will get me is a ki draining," Ranma muttered.

"You're behaving on purpose," the teacher demanded angrily. "Aren't you?"

"May we continue the lessen, sensei?" he asked, oozing politeness. The grin on his face more than answered her question.

"Please, can I have a little bit of disruption?"

"No….its not good for me right now."

"Great-Grandma, what you talking to Nabiki about?" Shampoo asked as they shut down for the post lunch rush for a little lunch themselves.

"The girl has a plan that might prove effective," Cologne answered as she swallowed some noodles.

"What plan that?" Shampoo asked. She continued thinking to herself, "And why she not tell me?"

"She was not specific with the details," Cologne admitted. "That one never is."

"Take one to know one," Shampoo whispered.

"What was that?" Cologne directed narrowed eyes at her great-granddaughter.

"Nothing great-grandma," Shampoo answered cheerfully, sweatdropping. "Shampoo win airen? Won't violent-girl be mad?" Cologne smiled

"Not if this works," Cologne laughed. "If this works everybody will come out of this satisfied, except, perhaps that Kuno girl."

"Oh, that good," Shampoo answered cheerfully. "How Nabiki, she look bad." Cologne stared at her searchingly. Shampoo was obviously concerned for the not quite trustworthy Tendo.

"She should not be up and around," Cologne noted, "but her injuries could have been much worse." Shampoo relaxed visibly.

"Stupid girl should stay in bed," Shampoo hmphed. Cologne and Shampoo thought they heard a breeze pass through one of their rear windows. "Mousse home, yes?"

"Perhaps not," Cologne noted. "If that was him he and the Kuno girl could prove to be a problem."

"I handle Mousse," Shampoo waved him off. "And crazy-girl weak martial artist."

"Still, perhaps you should go to the Tendo dojo and keep an eye on her," Cologne suggested. "Mousse will attempt to contact her before he does anything."

"Yes, great-grandma," Shampoo agreed readily, leaving the restaurant at a brisk, leaping run.

Mousse slipped quietly into the room and glanced about cautiously. He had a sudden sense of walking into the dragon's lair. Glancing about he relaxed. This particular dragon was deeply asleep and likely to stay that way for a long time yet. Still, caution was in order. He cast about the room looking for anywhere that the Tendo-girl could have hidden something.

A blush rose softly to his cheeks as he opened Nabiki's underwear drawer, and after only a cursory check he shut it again. He opened the next drawer and searched through it a little more thoroughly, still being as quiet as he could be. He found nothing again. Nabiki Tendo's room was spartan, practical. There didn't seem to be many places to hide anything. He stood up frustratedly for a moment and looked about.

"The closet," he whispered to himself, and silently made his way there.

"Shampoo," he stopped and glanced at the shape under the thick blankets. Nabiki's wistful expression slowly dissolved away into the cool emotionless mask that usually had its place on her face. With his poor vision and the speed of the change he couldn't be certain that he had actually seen it or not. He decided it must have just been his imagination and continued with his search.

He tapped the back of the closet wall, listening for the echoing sound of a hollow panel. He heard a more rustling behind him, but dismissed it as nothing more than more of Nabiki's restlessness. He was frowning as he listened, where did the girl have everything hidden?

"_What_ are you doing in here?" Mousse turned to face what he thought was an irate Nabiki, he swallowed nervously. He could beat the middle Tendo to within an inch of her life without breaking a sweat, but their was still something innately intimidating about the girl.

"Nabiki-san, this isn't what it looks like," he tried. The blur reached out and grabbed his ear and dragged him along. He caught a sight of the girl in the bed shift up and eye him dangerously as he was dragged out. If he had been startled by what he had assumed was Nabiki, now he was terrified. He breathed a sigh of relief when the door closed behind him and his unknown captor.

"I really expected better of you, Mousse," the girl said, using Kasumi's voice. She tsked him shaking her head sadly.

"But she…" Mousse was reeling with shame and embarrassment. Kasumi was disappointed. Considering the amount of strangeness she took on face value that was a particularly condemning statement. Somewhere in the background a door opened and closed and Mousse heard a whiny high-pitched voice enter the house.

"And what would Kodachi think?"

"I was trying…wait a minute, why would Kodachi care?" Kasumi ignored him

"And its not like you'd actually find anything." Ranma appeared in the hallway.

"Hey, Kasumi," he paused and looked at Mousse, then looked about nervously. "Kodachi not with you Mousse? And how'd you manage to get on _Kasumi's _bad side?"

"I'm _going_ to catch you misbehaving Saotome-san," a highly annoyed little girl declared following Ranma up the stairs. Mousse blinked at the absurdity of the sentence. What could this little girl do to a master martial artist like Ranma Saotome?

"I just caught Mousse sneaking about Nabiki's room," Kasumi hmphed. "And her in there asleep." Ranma looked from Kasumi to Mousse and then to the hyper-active little teacher. A very familiar expression was crossing Hinako-san's face.

"I think he's about to pay for that," Ranma said smiling broadly.

"Just what do you mean by…."

"DELINQUENT! I see you need punishment!" Ranma and Kasumi stepped back as Mousse looked on confused at the little girl.

"What are you going to do with that coin?" Mousse asked sarcastically.

"Happo 5 yen satsu!" Ranma and Kasumi watched calmly as Mousse was drained of ki to a point of near-insubstantiality. "There, feels much better." The now very adult and sultry Hinako-san turned about to leave the Tendo Dojo.

"Later Hinako-san," Ranma called out.

"Be at school on time, Saotome," the teacher returned. Kasumi examined the shocked expression on Mousse's ki-drained face.

"Oh dear, was that really necessary?" Ranma shrugged.

"Is Akane still in the dojo?"

"I believe so," Kasumi said sweetly. "Hmm, it seems to be time to begin on supper." Ranma shrugged and walked off heading back down the stairs a little ahead of Kasumi. Neither of them gave Mousse much more of a thought. After all, his ki would recover on its own, and he had deserved it.

Nabiki listened to what transpired outside her door and relaxed. She'd let the blind-boy sweat it out a few days, but she was satisfied. Still it did mean that she needed to put her plan into practice a little sooner than she intended. Not that she would have waited long on any account. She looked to the Jusenkyo water's hiding place.

It wouldn't be much longer before Kasumi finally noticed its presence in the house. Nabiki was good, but she wasn't good enough to keep magic like that under her sister's nose forever. Of course, Kasumi might just ignore it and let things develop as they would. She did a lot of that, so far she hadn't asked about Nabiki's choice of battlefield either. Nabiki sighed irritably, things got so much more complicated when magic was involved.

"And dangerous," Nabiki muttered, and suddenly the world seemed all that much lighter. Nabiki turned her mind to more practical matters, lying back in her bed to think and rest at the same time. "Now, how to splash Ranma with out him knowing it was me, or at least on purpose." She let her body slip back into sleep as she considered her problems.

Ukyou only barely recovered from her surprise to catch the descending Okonomiyaki.

"You found Nabiki, WHERE?!?" the chef demanded as soon as everything was well under control again. Ryouga blinked, what was she so upset about, it wasn't like she was the one cursed.

"At the edge of Jusenkyo," Ryouga grumbled. "And I'll probably never get back there again."

"Nabiki was at Jusenkyo," Ukyou pointed out. "Do you think she was there to fight Copycat Ken, she knows better than that."

"So what was…" Ryouga narrowed his eyes and then paled. "Nabiki with Jusenkyo water." The horrifying possibilities paraded through his and Ukyou's mind. Of course, Ryouga had no problem with one of those possibilities, the one that saw him getting cured. The others, however, the ones that had Nabiki in every corner and the idea of being cursed with any of a number of other forms for annoying the little loan shark. Those were the possibilities that really terrified them.

"Okay, we have time," Ukyou forced herself to breathe. "She was about dead on her feet earlier, we can wait until Ucchan's closes and then check this out."

"And what are we going to do, sneak around her room while she's asleep?" Ryouga asked narrowly.

"No, thank you," she paused a moment to frisbee an okonomiyaki out to a customer. "What kind of insensitive idiot does something like that?"

A still barely conscious Mousse sneezed as Ranma disappeared towards the dojo.

"Hey, Akane," he shouted cheerfully. "I got through an entire tutoring session without being…" Ranma stopped cold when saw what Akane was doing.

"Hey, Ranma," Akane called back cheerfully, as if she weren't teaching a dangerous lunatic anything-goes martial arts. She turned to Kodachi for a moment. The shorter girl irritably corrected some small point in the gymnast's stance. "You still need more work on that," Akane muttered, then entered stance and shifted positions. "Try that a couple of times."

"Hai," Kodachi said and nodded determinedly. Ranma blinked, there were apparently no Kunoesque speeches coming from her at the moment.

"Uh, Akane," Ranma whispered walking up next to her and eyeing Kodachi. The gymnast's forehead was crinkled in determination while she practiced the motion Akane had shown her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm training Kodachi," Akane answered simply.

"I see that," he watched Kodachi perform the indicated motion slowly and then a little faster as she got the proper feel of it. "Why?"

"I was bored, you were stuck with Hinako-san," Akane shrugged. "And I think she could use some." Ranma couldn't argue with that last one. "Okay, I think you got that down…now the strike is like this, can you do that."

"Like this, Tendo-sensai?" Kodachi asked imitating the motion. Ranma face-faulted. 

"Tendo-sensai?" Akane sweatdropped.

"I can't get her to stop calling me that," Akane explained, frustratedly. Ranma examined Kodachi closely for a moment. Every once in a while her glance would flicker nervously about the room. Other than that she was calm, quiet, and; most strange of all; nearly……normal. 

Ranma thought about it and realized that in the time she had been living at the Tendo dojo, he hadn't had near as much trouble with her as he should have. In fact the only time she had really flown off the handle was when they had to pull her off his father that one time. He still hadn't figured out what Pops had done to provoke her, of course Genma's overly vehement denials of responsibility didn't help the sometime-panda.

"Uh huh, you don't mind if I keep an eye…"

*CRASH* 

Akane and Ranma sighed as the dojo wall caved in. Both of them saw Kodachi flicker through a moment of panic before that familiar haughty expression passed over her face. Suddenly _that_ Kodachi was back.

"Nihao!" Shampoo called out cheerfully. The dust hadn't settled by the time Shampoo crossed the dojo and glomped onto Ranma. "Airen no talk to Nabiki-sister and crazy-girl."

"Tempestous wench!" Kodachi shouted. "You dare to flaunt your low brow attempts at seduction in front of Kodachi, the Black Rose of St. Hebereke? Very well, we shall see how you fare. OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"

"RANMA!!" The aforementioned boy cowered as he saw the looks on the other two-girls' faces. He barely had time to slip out Shampoo's glomp and leap back from mallet range. Shampoo, he noticed rather cheerfully avoided Kodachi's ribobn and landed directing a bih at her apparent rivals.

"Wait a minute," Ranma muttered. "Since when has she let me go that easy?"

"What are you doing here?" Akane growled.

"Silly girl, do you think to accomplish with this idiocy! You can't possibly win Ranma-darling's heart with us as competitors." Ranma and Akane blinked.

"'Us?'"

"Think stupid-Mousse up to something," Shampoo explained casually.

"Then why are you _here_?" Akane yelled. "I haven't seen Mousse. Have you seen Mousse?"

"Not since leaving the Nekohanten," Kodachi answered with an upturned nose. "Not that I see why I should have to explain myself to this primitive tease." Kodachi was still braced to fight, Akane noticed a small paper packet in her hands. Shampoo growled.

"What about you Ranma?" Akane narrowed her eyes as she saw him examining a spot on the ceiling. "Okay Ranma, where is he?" The building battle auras of the other two girls dissipated as all eyes were turned to Ranma.

"Well…." Ranma sweatdropped. He really didn't want to be the cause of three angry females tracking down the hidden weapons expert, he'd only get blamed for it later. On the other hand, not saying anything could get three angry females on him now. Fortunately the decision was taken from him.

"Saootome…" Mousse moaned as he stumbled into the dojo and fell flat on his face.

"What happen to Mousse?" Shampoo asked curiously, but without much excitement.

"What could do this to such a valiant and powerful warrior?" Kodachi gasped. She kneeled down turned over the ki-drained Mousse. "He's been drained dry!"

"So what did Hinako-san punish him for?" Akane asked, recognizing the symptoms.

"Hinako-san?" Kodachi asked. "That ki-draining she-demon educator?"

"Oh, Shampoo no like fighting around her."

"Well, Ranma," Akane waited impatiently. "What did he do? Jaywalk, speak out of turn?"

"Hey, why don't you ask him?"

"Because he's…..coming around."

"What was that for," Mousse demanded wearily, sitting up. "I mean it wasn't like I was peeping on her or anything."

"Uh, Mousse," Ranma was too late to help the oblivious chinese boy.

"Peeping on who?" Akane asked levely.

"Nabiki, of course," Mousse answered. "What happened to you Ryouga?"

"Oh man, now he's going to get it."

"I'm Akane! And what are you doing peeping on my sister?!!"

"Akane…but…but…"

"What do you need my help with Shampoo for?" Kodachi shouted. "You seem to be busy enough with that cold-hearted calculator."

"Kodachi, is that you?"

"Stupid Mousse bother hurt and tired Nabiki?!" Battle auras flared. A mallet, gymnast club, and bonbori smashed Mousse to the ground.

"I tried to warn you," Ranma said backing away.

"What you mean 'help with Shampoo'? Crazy-girl no match Shampoo with blind-idiot!"

"OHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" Kodachi laughed. "We'll see who's an idiot, you primitive little trollop."

"Hey wait…what are you?" Akane dodged back out of the fight range to watch with Ranma. "This isn't a fair fight." Akane scowled at Shampoo. The amazon was teasing Kodachi. They both ducked a ribbon propelled barbell that clonked a bihhing Shampoo in the back of the head. The surprised Amazon tumbled forward into a roll coming up with a snarl.

"Where am I?" Akane and Ranma looked down at the awakening Mousse.

"Sneak into my sister's room again and you won't have to worry about that," Akane growled at the still dazed martial artist. Ranma arched an eyebrow at Mousse, what exactly did it take for this guy figure out the phrase "shut up." Glancing back at the fight, Ranma noticed that Shampoo's bonbori had come out.

"Shampoo's getting a little serious," he muttered before moving. Akane looked up and saw Kodachi's ribbon snag a bucket across the dojo, something Ranma didn't notice considering he was moving to disarm Shampoo. Akane did not bother asking how the bucket got there. Her personal belief was that the water and its containers tended to materialize around jusenkyoites.

"Ranma, look out!" Ranma turned around in time to see a flash of gray and a familiar shimmer before he was hit from two directions. Fortunately for those in the vicinity who were not-Akane, he took virtually all of the water and so nothing splashed into Shampoo.

Kodachi saw it coming way too late to do anything, and she didn't see why she had to anyway. It wasn't like this was training, this was a fight. Nothing REALLY bad happened in a fight. Then the water cascaded over her Ranma-darling and something miraculous happened. A Kuno figured out about Ranma. As Ranma landed, momentarily dazed, Kodachi watched him become a her in an instant that seemed to last forever.

"Ahh! Ranma!" Shampoo shouted, noticing that her Airen's head had some how gotten in her bonbori's way. She would have helped Ranma-chan up if the red-head wasn't already angrily sitting up, rubbing her head. "You hurt your head?" Ranma dazedly looked up and noticed Akane stalking over. Some thought about getting through Hinako-san's tutoring session and karma flashed through his mostly recovered head.

"Get off of me, Shampoo," Ranma-chan shouted desperately. "Get off of me!" Se glanced over at Kodachi and noticed the gymnast on her knees with her head bent at an angle. Kodachi was just sort of staring at her. "Oh shit." He barely noticed Shampoo releasing him quickly and backing up.

"Shampoo think she see…must be tired."

"RAN-MA!!" Ranma cringed as the mallet came out, frantically pointing in the catatonic gymnast's direction. When the mallet didn't land she blinked open an eye, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the mallet was gone. Ranma-chan noticed Shampoo pouting behind her. "Kodachi?"

~Ha! She didn't smash me with the mallet this time.~ Ranma-chan almost felt like sticking her tongue out at the Amazon. The thought of Kodachi sitting like a life-size doll killed that thought. "She's ummm….not laughing…any guess as to what that means?"

Mousse groggily looked over to see a white blur and a red blur standing over a black blur. Somewhere to the right of the trio of blurs was a greenish blur leaning against a wall. He noticed quickly enough that Kodachi's usually shrill, edgy voice was missing from the conversation, and in fact she seemed to be the subject of the conversation. Mousse slipped his mangled glasses down over his eyes, and then began searching out for an unbroken set of spares. When he finally found a set he discovered them standing over a catatonic Kodachi.

"What did you do to her Saotome?" Mousse demanded grabbing Ranma-chan by her collar.

"I changed," Ranma said dryly. "In front of her." Mousse released Ranma and turned an about face.

"Kodachi! You have to snap out of it!" Akane resisted the urge to mallet him and instead turned the blind boy to face the named girl.

"She's there, baka." Mousse sweatdropped momentarily and started to shake the non-responsive gymnast.

"Crazy-girl snapped big time," Shampoo noted with at least a trace of concern, not much though. This was the girl that had, for the past few years, been alternately drugging and ambushing every martial artist in Nerima. Mousse glared at her, or tried to, and then took Kodachi up in his arms and leaped through one of the as yet unrepaired holes in the dojo.

Kodachi was sitting in her room and quietly regarded her reflection in the mirror. There were no more distractions on her mind now, the last door was closed. She couldn't remember why she had left it open so long. All that noise and fuss, it wasn't fitting that a lady of rank should have to put up with it.

The reflection Kodachi saw in the mirror, and the image she held, would not have been recognized by most of the Nerima group. Her skin was a healthy tan, her eyes lacked the bloodshot look of a cornered animal, and she was dressed in shorts and shirt. Not really lady-like, but this she was around the house, so it didn't matter. The important thing was, and she didn't consciously consider this, there were no scars to cover with cloth or makeup. Her hair hung loose over her shoulders as she walked to her bed and laid back with a content sigh. 

She sighed happily at how…how…her brother would be so proud of her. She was beautiful, educated, and talented. There was no better gymnast than her in the area, she was popular, and she had a wonderful boyfriend. She picked up a photo of her boyfriend and…blinked.

"How did this get here?" she said looking at the picture of a familiar Chinese boy. She ripped the photo out of the frame and prepared to toss it, but stopped herself. Why was that familiar, it was some friend of….of…her boyfriend. She mumbled irritably for a moment and crumbled the photo up, a little bit of searching found the noble and serious face of her boyfriend.

The sound of a door creaking open irritated her a little further, and she hadn't even gotten to dwell on her love's shapely face. Walking to the door she heard the whispering outside, and cringed.

"-haired girl," the voices whispered. "Tatewaki wants you dead. Ranma loves Akane…" Kodachi's cheerful expression returned as she softly shut the door. Kodachi glanced at the mirror and screamed, her reflection was changed. The skin was deathly pale, she was thin, almost dangerously thin, and the irritated veins in the eyes had returned. The reflection smiled rolled a shoulder of her t-shirt down to view the scar of an old training injury. The reflection held a cold beauty, an arrogant voice and a feeling of viciousness.

"This is my brother's love," the reflection growled as it faded away. "He's tried to kill me twice."

"Training is dangerous," she tried to retort. Kodachi dashed into her bed and hid under the covers gripping her boyfriend's photo. She glanced down and saw him and some girl happily cuddling on a rooftop. The photo flew across the room with an almost growl. A window slammed open and the voices outside filled the room. Kodachi felt a wind passing over her as she approached the window and sealed it shut. Then all was quite again, safe in the room.

"OHOHOHOHOHO!!!" Kodachi turned toward her reflection, which merely laughed at her.

"Quit that," Kodachi pleaded. The reflection kept laughing, pointing at her hysterically. "Please stop that." A pair of windows on opposite sides of her ripped open and the voices started streaming in. Kodachi cringed in the middle of her room, which was suddenly decorated with lethal instruments of all kinds. Then the sound of the words seemed to slow down and turn softer.

"Please wake-up," she heard someone say, that wind was rushing past her again. 

"I am awake," she whimpered. Suddenly there was the wind again, as if she were leaping through the air. Kodachi looked down and screamed. She looked like that horrid lunatic version of herself.

"We're almost to Dr. Tofu's already."

"Tofu?" Kodachi asked herself. A memory sparked, sitting on a bed after having a broken leg splinted..

*"Listen, Kodachi, there's this other family that comes to me," Tofu insisted. "The oldest sister even shows your talent for healing. Maybe you could stay with them. Then there'd be someone instantly on hand when you have one of your 'accidents.'" She stopped smiling as she considered that. "They run a dojo."*

"It isn't important," Kodachi snapped, trying to ignore the thoughts that she couldn't bare. At least she was thankful for her room, the voice couldn't all reach her here, and soon she'd seal them away as before. Her room, the nice pleasant room that been changed to a torturer's dream, seemed to shatter around her. She was alone in the dark with the voices and memories, memories uninfluenced by self-lies.

"Move it, girl," something shouted through the shimmering darkness. "Do you want the darkness forever?" Kodachi almost didn't hear, again overwhelmed by the voices that all belonged to her. The new voice scared her and she nervously backed away.

"Everything is going to be okay," Kodachi whirled to where she thought she'd heard the sound. It was away from the Fear Voice, and she fled after it.

Mousse landed in front of the clinic and was stopped short as Kodachi's hands whipped up around Mousse's shoulders and neck. He looked down and saw Kodachi looking at him, shell shocked and speechless, but no longer that unnatural, empty stare.

"Everything is going to be fine," he smiled at her. She nodded quietly and let herself be carried into Dr. Tofu's office.

Kasumi breathed a sigh of relief as Nabiki's breathing and ki returned to normal. Her sister wasn't telling her everything, but at least now she was getting some real sleep after her trip to china. The girl shifted in her sleep piling the blankets as she pulled them together. Kasumi watched as one tear worked itself from of Nabiki's long time dry eyes, and a melancholy expression passed softly on her face. Kasumi sighed worriedly, she was going to have to have a talk with Nabiki.

[The Amazon and the Moneylender Contents][1]

[Part 9][2]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/aatm.html
   [2]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/shamnabi9.html



	9. Nabiki enacts her plan, a little earlier...

The Amazon and the Moneylender Episode 9

"This brings back unpleasant memories," Dr. Tofu noted as he examined Kodachi briefly. 

"Yes, it does," Kodachi agreed, quietly.

She was still flashing through old memories that had been buried or warped since almost their inception. It was a most enlightening experience, it was funny how close she had been recently. Leaving her brother in jail as a show of disapproval and the relief at how less "boring" life would be. Then, of course, she could give him an excuse for trying to kill her later. Jumbled in this were all the times Ranma had told her that he didn't love her, mostly rude attempts, but she had to admit that she hadn't earned politeness. Then, of course there were all those "accidents," and the night she achieved an acceptable level of "perfection."

"No physical injuries. Your chi is sluggish, though. If I didn't know better I'd say you just came out of a coma."

"She was catatonic until just before we came inside."

"I didn't let her touch me," Kodachi noted proudly, if subdued. "Then the bucket hit Ranma…and…and…"

"Saotome maliciously triggered his curse in front of her," Mousse finished angrily.

"I hit Ranma with the water," Kodachi admitted quietly, and scrunched her eyes in confusion. "And…..how did that happen?"

"Hmmm, this is interesting," Dr. Tofu said, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"What is it?" Mousse asked anxiously.

"He was a boy…and then he was a girl…"

"Your chi flow is too free," he said tapping his chin in thought. "The channels are too broad."

"What does that mean?" Mousse asked. The doctor circled her, Kodachi watching nervously.

"Everywhere, wow, never seen a job this thorough," he sat down and turned to his desk. "Very clean too, professional, odd that they took down everything, maybe they were in a rush."

"Job?" Kodachi asked. The doctor opened a door and pulled out a piece of polished jade. It was held in a casing of some kind of bone, as they watched the doctor carved kanji into the stone.

"What are you talking about?" Mousse demanded. The doctor finished the kanji and began sorting various strings until he found one to feed through the bone casing.

"Well, Kodachi's chi flow is indicative of someone who's natural mental defenses have been taken down," he slipped the new amulet over Kodachi's head after imbuing it with a little chi. "Don't take that off for the next couple of days. I doubt you'll run across any demons, but around here you never know, and you are certainly an easy target until your chi flow fixes itself." The flood of memories slowed down tremendously, and she was thankful for that.

"You're saying some demon was in her mind?" Mousse asked nervously.

"I'm saying _something_ was in her mind," Dr. Tofu repeated.

"Could _someone_ explain to me how Ranma and that red-haired girl are the same person, _please,_" Kodachi demanded.

"Certainly," Dr. Tofu smiled. "Excuse me, Mousse."

"What do you…hey!" Kodachi's eyes bulged as Mousse shrunk into a duck. "QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!" The doctor then produced a kettle of hot water, and held down Mousse's foot with his. Strangely enough Mousse-duck was trying like crazy to get away.

"And now," he paused. "You might want to look away a moment." Kodachi shrugged and looked towards a wall, and the mirror she knew was there. Her skin actually blushed past normal tones as Mousse transformed back.

"You can look now," Mousse said irritably. Kodachi turned around and tried to blank her expression.

"What was that?" Kodachi demanded.

"A Jusenkyo curse," Dr. Tofu explained. "If you fall into a Jusenkyo spring, then you become whatever it was that drowned there. Mousse fell in the spring of drowned duck, so when he gets splashed with cold water…he turns into a duck."

"And Ranma full into one of these springs," Kodachi asked. "The spring of drowned…girl?"

"That's about the size of it," Dr. Tofu agreed. Kodachi thought about this for a moment when a small twitter escaped her mouth. Dr. Tofu and Mousse blinked and watched her in concern.

"Ha…the redhaired girl…is Ranma…Ha! OHH-haahahahahaha!!" Kodachi threw herself back on to the examination table and continued to laugh.

"Kodachi?" Then the gymnast rolled off the examination table falling to the ground with a thump that didn't interrupt the laughing for more than a moment.

"Hahahahaha! I at least had the right gender!" Kodachi declared, returning to laughing almost immediately.

"Are you okay?" Dr. Tofu asked cautiously, looking over the table at Kodachi's mirthful seizure.

"My brother's obsessed with a _man_," she giggled. "And he doesn't even know it!"

"Is she okay?" Mousse asked anxiously.

"Ranma in a leotard, snicker snicker."

"Very much so I'd say," Dr. Tofu smiled. She was laughing, really laughing for the first time in years. The doctor felt relieved, and to a degree, vindicated by this development. Kodachi was coming back to real life.

"Well," Akane turned to face Shampoo. Ranma came in from the living quarters drying himself off, steam was still rising up from his head and shoulders.

"Well, what?"

"You were about to go full out against her," Akane accused. "Weren't you?"

"No I was not! Shampoo no bully the weak. Shampoo just teach crazy-girl lesson that's all."

"Teach her a lesson!" Akane yelled indignantly. "Something like banging her head into a boulder?"

"Hey!" Ranma's attempt at interruption called down a bonbori and a mallet to his head.

"Uh, why we just clobber Ranma?"

"Bad habit I guess," Akane said.

"This is just great," Ranma grumbled. "I get a concussion, and they're trying to decide why."

"Well, stay out of way of womans arguing!" Shampoo snapped.

"Yeah, what did you want to say anyway?" Ranma looked at them for a moment, deciding whether or not to run.

"Shampoo wasn't going full out," Ranma noted. "There were no large bladed objects involved."

"See, Nabiki-sister not know everything." Shampoo crossed her arms smuggly.

"So you think she's right then?"

"No, I think she was about to beat Kodachi into a bloody pulp, and that she wouldn't think much of it." At Ranma's disapproving tone Shampoo's ego deflated substantially. She didn't just descend into a hissy fit over it either, she cocked her head at that thought. "She just wouldn't have killed her."

"Shampoo go talk to people that not so uptight," she hmphed and walked out of the dojo.

"Speaking of bloody pulps," Akane noted dangerously. "Why aren't you one?"

"For what?"

"Baka, you just insulted her again!"

"When?"

*SLAM*

Shampoo watched as Kasumi walked out of Nabiki's room, closing the door behind her softly. She turned to face Shampoo and elicited a brief gasp of surprise. Like everybody else, Shampoo liked Kasumi, that was just natural, practically everybody liked Kasumi.

"Oh, hello Shampoo."

"Nihao!"

"I didn't hear you come in."

"Came in to the dojo."

"Oh dear, I'll call the contractors tomorrow I guess," Kasumi paused in passing her and turned to face Shampoo. "Ranma was in the dojo, so why are you here?"

"Checking on Nabiki," Shampoo answered naturally. "She look really bad this morning."

"Well she's sleeping now," Kasumi said firmly. "And after everything else today I don't think she could use any more visitors."

"Plus you not trust me?" Shampoo nodded expectantly. "How is she?"

"She would be fine if she weren't pressing herself so hard," Kasumi said sweetly. "Nabiki works so hard all the time, and she's never been so injured before. She really doesn't know how to deal with it."

"She stupid."

"That too," Kasumi said calmly. "Would you like some tea?"

"Sure," Shampoo shrugged after a little bit of thought. She followed the calm serene girl downstairs, and kneeled down at the table while Kasumi prepared some tea.

"Are Ranma and Akane still mad at you about the kiss?"

"No, they seem to forget," Shampoo blushed in memory of that event. Then she recalled the daydream that followed, and that the girl involved was upstairs. All this combined made it hard for Shampoo not to bear a striking resemblance to Ranma's shirt. ~What if she finds out about that? Silly, what does Nabiki care if a love potion makes me kiss…Her…_Sister_…oh…uh oh…she'll kill me…she'll put Nekohanten in bankruptcy!!~

"Oh don't worry about that," Kasumi said as she sat down and poured the tea for Shampoo. "With all the craziness around here it was almost long over due, and I can see you're just as embarrassed about it as Akane is."

"Yeah, that true," Shampoo breathed a sigh of relief.

"So why are you so concerned about my sister?" Kasumi asked sweetly. 

"Huh?"

"That is if you don't mind me asking."

"She help me with lots of favors," Shampoo said. "And it not right to bully the weak."

"I see," Kasumi said. "Then you aren't asking her to win Ranma's heart?"

"She say no will do that," Shampoo grumbled irritably. "Won't hurt sister."

"I see, and what favors does she do for you then?"

~Think girl, think.~ Shampoo's forehead crinkled as she tried to come up with a plausible lie in the face of Kasumi's overwhelming niceness. "She tell me where other girls are who obstacles to Shampoo's Airen."

"And how much does that cost you?"

"All total eighty thousand yen," Shampoo grumbled.

"Ahh, and perhaps you should return to work in order to make up that money," Kasumi suggested. "After all you won't soon be needing my sister's services any more."

"Really?"

"Yes, strange that so many of Ranma's would be girlfriends finding alternative matches," the older girl smiled warmly. "More tea?"

"Yes, then Shampoo go back to work." Shampoo said. ~She's not so out of it.~

"It doesn't seem you'll need to know about their movements anymore." Shampoo nodded enthusiastically. "And perhaps you can tell her that?"

"Why me?" she asked nervously. Nabiki hadn't really talked to her since coming back, besides she was a client and that's all. Nabiki had said that herself.

"You're the client," Kasumi said. "She is very professional, Nabiki won't stop because I ask her to, and I'd rather not have to force her to take some time to heal." Shampoo blinked. Kasumi's tone of voice hadn't changed at all, as if she had total confidence her ability to do that.

"Shampoo not hire her last," the Amazon said suddenly. "Great-Grandma did." Kasumi regarded her for a moment while pouring the tea, and smiled.

"Well, that is different then," the tall girl sat down and sipped her tea. Shampoo sighed in relief, as that weight of disapproval vanished. She pondered on how amazing the pressure was when someone who was just totally and completely _nice_ disapproved of you.

"Oh, Shampoo go back work now," Shampoo said, sweatdropping. "Goodbye." She left quickly and quietly through the door.

"Have a nice day," Kasumi called cheerily. Then she sighed and shook her head, well she could try convincing Nabiki to rest one more time. She would have to prepare for the likely event of Nabiki trying to get around her again.

The sound of Shampoo's bike over head grated on Ukyou's nerves. The reason being that her dinner crowd took a moment to rush outside and watch the purple-haired girl bicycle along the rooftops. Ryouga looked at her, carefully avoiding mentioning the distinct smell of cooked beef. She'd been in a bad mood since he and Nabiki met the group in the airport, the free publicity the Nekohanten was now getting at her expense was not helping her mood.

"Next time we train you for chi channelling," Ryouga started cautiously. "Let's do it along Shampoo's delivery routes." Ukyou blinked and looked at him, then laughed. This was much to Ryouga's relief.

"Fist of the insulted businesswoman," Ukyou agreed. "Deadbeats of the world beware. Can you get this to that table?" Ryouga looked and shrugged.

"I think so," he muttered.

"Good, we only have another hour until closing and then we have to go visit the Tendos," Ukyou paused. "It will go a lot faster with a little help." Ryouga ducked his head as a playfully tossed mini-spatula passed over his head. The regulars didn't pay much mind, other than to get out of the way and watch the show, but a pair of gaijin tourists were not so calm. Especially not when three more spatulas zipped toward the boy, who was trying to find the indicated table.

"Hey miss," one of them shouted. "Are you crazy or something." Ryouga spotted his goal as he snatched the spatulas with his free hand and sent them back Ukyou's way. Deciding that no serious training exercises were going on, the regulars sat back down and watched as they ate.

"What do you mean by that?" Ukyou asked, confused as she launched another salvo of spatulas. She caught the returned projectiles almost absent-mindedly, and waited for the next three as Ryouga set down the dish he was delivering.

"You're throwing kitchen ware about the room, are their no health codes in this country?" Ukyou narrowed her eyes.

"Are you suggesting I use these to cook?" She brandished the three, and suddenly six, spatulas in her hand.

"Uh, what else would you use them for?" The tourist's apparent girl-friend asked, confused. Ukyou at least noted that they spoke good Japanese, even if they showed no common sense. Noting the glare of the challenged in the chef's eyes, most of the customers stood with their back to the walls.

"Ryouga, remember that game javelins we saw in Texas?"

"Yeah," he smirked as the tourist couple stared at the boy, his arms grimmly crossed.

"Two points?" Ukyou suggested, her boyfriend shrugged.

"Fine with me."

"This could be good," one of the Nerimans whispered. "I'll bet…"

"Excuse me," a non-descript school girl interrupted. Finally, she was the one on hand for a martial art fight, this would be her commission. "That's my job."

"Are you two going to get out of the way," Ukyou asked irritably as she walked around the corner standing about ten feet away from Ryouga. The tourists cleared the main floor. "Finally, ready?"

"Ready."

"Go!" The air between the two was suddenly filled with spatulas and bandanas circling at an insane speed. Neither moved their feet and just concentrated on the projectile war.

"Uh, what's going on?"

"You turned a simple training exercise into a decent sparring match," somebody explained to the completely lost tourist.

"Training exercise, what?"

"I've got two hundred on Ukyou!" somebody shouted. 

"Look at that bandanna swarm, Ryouga to win for sure!"

The tourists sweatdropped as they turned back to face the two martial artists. One of the spatulas broke through Ukyou's catches and scraped along her shoulder.

"Ha! First point," Ryouga noted with a laugh. Now he just needed, Ryouga almost fainted as perhaps every projectile in the past two volleys combined rocketed his way. He blocked nearly twelve of them before a bandana and a spatula whipped in smacking him nearly simultaneously.

"Beginner's luck, Ryochan," Ukyou smiled as she flipped her hair back. The gaijin blinked as she flipped back behind the counter and cheerfully went back to cooking, snatching the few remaining projectiles from the air as she did so.

"Heh, I'll get you sooner or later," Ryouga answered. Collecting the dropped weapons, the tourists noted with dismay as he examined the bent and ruined throwing spatula. "You'll need stronger spatulas he noted, after you finish the baksai tenketsu we could quickly run through your ammo in these games." 

Ryouga tossed it in the trash as everybody returned glumly to their seats. Ukyou noted angrily that only three people seemed to have bet on her, and then smiled evilly at all the people that had lost money. That served them right.

"Well, are you going to be making any more complaints," Ukyou asked the gaijin couple. They hastily shook their hoods and scooted to their seats. "Good, here's your okonomiyaki." Two dishes landed perfectly in front of the two. They looked at their food and concentrated fully on its consumption ignoring the martial chaos around them.

"Wow," the schoolgirl said quietly as she started walking out of the door. Until she found herself facing a battle spatula.

"Excuse me, what's your name?"

"R-r-ruri," the girl answered.

"Hey, don't worry, girl," Ukyou said. "We're not going to do anything, but I'm heading to the Tendo dojo anyway so I thought maybe I could take that to Nabiki?"

"But….I'm supposed to take that to Yuka…and this is my first time…" She whined. Ukyou smiled, good, a beginner. Sayuri or Yuka wouldn't have given in.

"Ukyou, what are you doing?" Ryouga asked curiously. Ukyou smiled.

Nearly two hours later Ukyou and Ryouga were walking along the streets of Nerima carrying a moderately impressive wad of cash.

"That wasn't very fair," Ryouga noted, nervously as he followed step by step in Ukyou's path. There was a mild blush on his face as he remembered Ukyou's tease about "chasing the moon."

"Hey it gives us an excuse to drop by," Ukyou retorted, counting the money. "All this from one spar? I wonder how much she made on the fight after Ranma learned the Hiryu-Shoten-Ha?" Ryouga watched the aforementioned "moon" take a quick turn and followed. "You can look up now, sugar, we're there."

"Oh," Ryouga turned beet red as he looked up and laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Thanks."

"No problem, Ryochan, I'm the cute one after all," Ukyou giggled at his blush as she reached up and knocked on the door. Kasumi answered a few moments later.

"Oh, hello," Kasumi said quietly. "What brings you two here?"

"We have some stuff to give Nabiki from a sparring match me and Ryouga had."

"She's sleeping right now," Kasumi said firmly.

"Well we'd like to talk to the rest of you anyway," Ukyou explained. "All we have to do is drop this off."

"Well, come in then," Kasumi said. "We just finished dinner."

Nabiki stretched and rubbed her head. She really didn't get much out of that "rest." The middle Tendo sat on her bed yawned, and rubbed her eyes. Well at least Kasumi might be off her back a little more now. Then she stood up and looked about her room, and blinked.

"Uh….maybe not…" Nabiki was suddenly newly impressed with her older sister. She looked about and noted that virtually everywhere were charms, herbs, burning incense,…it was…a lot. They wouldn't stop Nabiki from walking out of the door, at least not bodily, but the message was clear: "GET REST!" She took a moment to check the hidden drawer and found the Jusenkyo water still there, and the seals still intact. Nabiki smiled and shut them back in the drawer, and looked about her room again.

"She actually gave me camouflage," Nabiki smiled at the irony. Even when the magic of the water ate through the seals, it would just fade into the mass of medicinal charms about her room. Nabiki laughed as she stretched again.

It was just as well that Nabiki's last task could be completed from inside the dojo. She wouldn't have to avoid or face Kasumi. There was just a matter of details, she yawned again. Stepping outside her room and closing the door on the incense allowed Nabiki to smell the food downstairs. That was strange, it was well past dinner time, and Kasumi shouldn't know she was awake yet. She narrowed her eyes as she walked down stairs into the family room.

"Okonomiyaki?" Nabiki asked, identifying the smell. She glanced about the room and, sure enough, there was Ryouga, staring at her. In fact everybody, and everybody was definitely not an understatement, was looking at her suspiciously. ~Hmmm, this is interesting.~

"Did you have a good sleep, Nabiki," Kasumi asked sweetly. Nabiki smiled back.

"Restful."

"Ryouga was telling us where he found you," Akane said irritably.

~Ryouga told them I was at Jusenkyo.~ Nabiki had to restrain herself from outright celebrating. "He was, was he?" Ryouga squirmed under the glare. Nabiki noted Cologne watching her as well as Kasumi. She could practically hear the old ghoul inquiring what she planned to do now. She passed quickly over Shampoo, not wanting to dwell on her for the moment.

"So where is it Nabiki?" Ranma demanded.

"Where is what?" Nabiki asked, blinking innocently.

"Don't tell us that you were at Jusenkyo and never bothered to collect some water," Mousse shouted. Nabiki arched an eyebrow.

"When you were in my room earlier," Nabiki started. "Did you see any water?" Reminded of that little faux pas, Mousse quietly sat down, looking anywhere but at Nabiki.

"Baka," Kodachi muttered irritably sitting next to him. She no longer seemed subdued, unless you considered her normal behavior. And there was still a remnant of her laughter a couple of hours earlier. Nabiki noticed her fiddling with a jade amulet and pondered that for a moment, before giving a silent amused laugh and sweeping her gaze across everybody else. Ukyou was missing, but she supposed that's where the okonomiyaki smell was coming from.

"For the sake of the Anything-Goes School of martial arts!" Genma shouted. "Produce the water!" Genma continued to be generally ignored by all present. Nabiki's

"Well," Nabiki scratched at the knife wound on her cheek. Shampoo watched as Nabiki's eyes finally settled on her and held. The amazon hoped her thoughts were plain enough on her face, they must have been. The moneylender visibly flinched from her glare.

~You had Jusenkyo water all this time, and you didn't tell _me!_~ Shampoo watched as Nabiki recovered her cold demeanor and frown. It almost seemed as if they had her in a corner, Shampoo watched Nabiki's eyes, and something flashed behind them. ~She's _happy_ about this! Uh oh.~

"I might be able to get a hold of some water," Nabiki admitted finally. "But…" Ukyou came in with a pair of okonomiyaki. "I assume that's for me?" Everybody, save Kasumi face faulted as Ukyou irritably handed Nabiki one of the okonomiyaki.

"Don't get any ideas," Ukyou growled quietly to the girl. Nabiki sighed as Ukyou walked to sit over next to Ryouga with the other okonomiyaki. She was almost sitting on him, a fact that most everybody else was trying to ignore as the two shared the meal.

"But what about the water!" Ranma shouted. Nabiki looked up from her meal, staring innocently at Ranma.

"Oh yes, the water," Nabiki smirked as she ate. Reaching into a pocket, the middle Tendo retrieved a sheet of paper and looked at it for a moment. She walked over to the lovebirds and handed the paper to Ryouga. "You might be interested in that."

"Umm, what does this have to do with the Jusenkyo water?" Akane asked.

"Is this all you want?" Ryouga asked, scratching his head. Ukyou leaned in close and read the paper, and face faulted.

"What do you mean is that ALL?" Ukyou repeated. "How could Ryouga have that…" Nabiki handed her another paper. "Ryouga Hibiki personal finances…oh, you knew." Ukyou said the last with a flat tone of voice.

"Nice try with the bluff though," Nabiki commented.

"Whatever she's asking for, it's got to be worth it to get the Jusenkyo water," Ranma asked. "How much could she ask for anyway?"

"Fifteen million yen," Ukyou said, resulting in a mass face fault.

"Nabiki!" Akane shouted in shock.

"Where could any of us get that…" Soun began to ask.

"We'll get it to you," Ryouga said, shrugging. Another mass face fault. Kasumi merely shook her head embarrassed.

"Ummm….wow, thanks Ryouga," Akane said. "I don't know how Ranma could repay you." Ukyou glared and Ryouga.

"You still haven't told her, have you?"

"Told me what?" Akane asked.

"Nothing that we can't deal with _after_ Nabiki gets the water," Ranma interrupted.

"I'm going, I'm going," Nabiki said irritably. The picture of someone who has amazingly pulled a little profit out of a bad situation. Kasumi turned to face her. "Don't worry Kasumi, I don't have to leave the dojo." 

As Nabiki disappeared upstairs her relieved smirk twisted fully into a victorious grin. They had no idea how well this fell into her plans. Opening the hidden drawer again she retrieved perhaps ten of the flasks. She double-checked the labels before walking back downstairs.

"Okay here it is," Kasumi and Mousse both stared at her in surprise. ~Surprise.~ "Give me a moment to sort through them." Nabiki smirked at the anxious expressions on everybody's faces. They were incredibly irritated, except for Kasumi who was just mildly embarrassed. 

"Can we hurry this up?" Shampoo demanded angrily. She was tensed to move, away from Nabiki, the amazon was still nervous about whatever the Tendo had planned. "Shampoo bored."

"I think this might be it," Nabiki said, opening the flask. "but I'm not…"

"GIVE ME THAT WATER!" Genma shouted springing towards Nabiki. Nabiki looked on in surprise, an expression Shampoo wasn't fooled by for a moment, as Genma tried to snatch the flask. Instead, he managed to knock the flask out of her hand sending it flying toward Akane.

"Akane get down1" Predictably Ranma leaped in front of Akane while virtually everyone else scattered. It seemed that Genma was the only one who didn't catch that Nabiki wasn't certain if it was the right water. 

Cologne glanced at Nabiki, who was watching the spinning flask intently as she fell backwards. The fool Genma was already sprawled on the floor, some master martial artist, over extending himself like that. Cologne was more interested in the outcome of Nabiki Tendo's plan.

As the flask spiraled out Nabiki slipped into chi sight. The chi of the spirit-trapping water's victims left a bright trail, spiralling trail to follow as it collided with Ranma. Nabiki resisted the urge to smile as Ranma's chi flow seemed to double and split, until she took a closer look. She only caught a glance before crashing painfully into the ground.

Ranma, meanwhile felt, the familiar tingle of transformation pass over him. It certainly wasn't spring of drowned man if he could feel the transformation happening. It was an odd transformation though, almost like something growing out of him. He cracked open his eyes at the sound of a thump.

"Ow!" Ranma looked down at the sound to see, himself. Well, almost herself, the girl's hair was darker and she looked half-chinese. After the expression of pain the red-head started speaking something in chinese. Ranma immediately started running a mental check to make sure this wasn't still the nightmare lands. Finding the world not enough self-centered he relaxed and backed away from the red-head.

"Great, another crazy copy of me," he muttered.

"Oh no," Ryouga gasped. "She's out again." The hoard of martial artists dropped into stance and faced the red-head girl who dressed almost identically to Ranma. The girl glanced at them and blinked nervously and then shouted desperately in Chinese. Shampoo, Cologne and Ryouga blinked at the obviously confused girl.

"I mean, wait a minute1" she shouted in Japanese finally. 

"What's going on here?" Akane shouted, not dropping stance. Almost every time Ranma's girl side ran separate it was bad news. "What was in that flask?"

"Spring of drowned twins," Cologne said, unconcerned. "It seems that the son-in-law's curse has interfered with the normal process of the spring water."

"Okay, I don't know what you are talking about," the apparent Ranma growled. "I don't know where I am, but would someone mind telling me why you all look ready to pound me into the ground?"

"What were you doing with spring of drowned twins, Nabiki?" The moneylender sat up and stared on, outwardly impassive. Shampoo looked at the girl and narrowed her eyes trying to get a feeling for what was going on in the middle Tendo's mind.

~So her plan was to make two Ranmas,~ Shampoo realized. ~And then this happens. Sheesh, talk about bad timing.~

"Excuse me," Kasumi cleared her throat. "We seem to have some family business, so thank you for coming, but perhaps you should all go home for now."

"Umm, what if she turns out to be another energy-draining chi spirit like the last time," Ryouga asked.

"Excuse me, you've got to be kidding," the girl said.

"Now, now," Soun said. "Kasumi is right, with all of us here it is bound to get out of control…"

"But…" Nabiki stood up stiffly and left for upstairs without a word, limping.

"I going to back bed." She announced flatly. ~Failed. Completely.~ 

"Nabiki?" she turned to look at Shampoo. ~Damn, she's given up.~ "What about the water for the rest of us?" Nabiki seemed to actually slump a little. Shampoo could have kicked herself for the question, but she felt oddly embarrassed at asking if Nabiki was okay. Not too mention that would reveal too much about this already.

"The labels are color-coded kitty," Nabiki said cooly. "I'd suggest Genma as a test subject." She then continued upstairs.

"Okay," Ranma started, angrily after everybody else had left the Tendos and Saotomes to handle this. "Who are you?"

"Ranko Saotome, who are you?" The girl was still watching them cautiously, though she hadn't tried to leave yet.

"Oh, then you're Ranma's girl side?" Kasumi asked politely.

"Girl side? What are you talking about," the self professed "Ranko" demanded. "Are you people crazy or something? And how did I get to Japan anyway?"

"Interesting, she's obviously not Ranma," Soun noted. "Or even knows much about us."

"Interesting," Genma noted, pushed his glasses up on his nose and looked at the Chinese-Japanese girl. "I wonder why.."

"AAHHH!!!" the girl screamed, then growled. "You're the guy that dumped me in that pit!"

"What?" The next thing they saw was the red head pounding on Genma.

"Well she seems to have some of Ranma's memories at least," Soun noted as they watched Genma getting beat over the head with a chair while his attacker shouted in rapid fire Chinese.

"Oh my," Kasumi started. "Didn't Cologne say something about Ranma's curse interfering with the water's power?"

"Hey, enough of that!" Akane shouted reaching in to grab a furious Ranko off of Genma. To Akane's surprise it was actually fairly easy.

"What are you hiding behind me for?" Ranma asked the old man calmly.

"Hey let me go, that jerk's put me through hell!" Genma skittered to hide behind Ranma.

"Son, it's your duty to defend your father from attackers."

"Uh huh," Ranma looked to where Akane was holding a flailing "Ranko."

"Of course, I got it!" Akane declared. "The last thing you remember is falling into a pond or something right?"

"Hey, how'd you know that?"

"So wait a minute," Ranma started. "Are you saying that she's the girl that originally drowned in the spring?"

"No, I'm saying she's a mix of you and that girl."

"Why that's incredible!" Soun declared. Ranma glanced at her, examining the girl's chi.

"Hey, the tomboy's right," Ranma declared, Akane ignored the insult. "Its like she's half me, and half somebody else."

"That would explain the Chinese," Kasumi noted. She had figured it out already, but couldn't really say anything without letting on that she could see chi flows. 

"Not to mention the fact that she's not as good as me," Akane noted, proudly.

"Excuse me, I'm going to check on Nabiki," Kasumi said.

"If I let you go, will you behave?" Akane asked.

"Will you let me kill the freak over there?"

  
Nabiki barely stirred at the sound of Kasumi knocking, she did barely more when Kasumi walked into the charm filled room.

"I shouldn't have pushed," Nabiki said.

"You planned for Ranma to get splashed," Kasumi said quietly as she sat next to the bed. "Didn't you."

"Two Ranmas, identical in thought and form," Nabiki whispered. "One for Akane and one for Shampoo. Problem solved."

"Unless the second Ranma objected," Kasumi noted. "And what about his trip to the nightmare lands, I know you heard about some of his dreams. You could have created a lunatic more dangerous than Kodachi ever was.

"That won't be a problem now," Nabiki whispered. "Nothing will go right from here."

"You're tired," Kasumi smiled tucking her sister into bed, as their mother had done long ago. "You're injured, take some time to rest. A solution will come to you." Nabiki shook her head.

"Shampoo won't give up, and neither will Akane," Nabiki whispered. "Nobody will come out well."

"Akane will be fine," Kasumi assured her. "She can take care of herself, and Ranma won't let anything happen to her."

"Shampoo doesn't have anybody to watch her." Kasumi blinked in surprise, Nabiki was really tired, mentally and spiritually more than physically. She never slipped up this much.

"Why are you worried about Shampoo?" Kasumi asked quietly, noticing that Nabiki's breath was turning deeper and more sedate. The herb she'd asked Ukyou to put in the okonomiyaki was working it seemed. She had been right that Nabiki wouldn't have suspected them of such a ploy. Kasumi doubted that she was much aware of anything at the moment.

"Love…her..." Nabiki whispered before she slipped completely asleep. 

Kasumi sat up straight and stared at her sister in shock. Nabiki, in love with Shampoo? That was just so…improper! She thought back to Nabiki's and Shampoo's argument before Nabiki vanished on that foolish self-imposed mission. Then of course, something else came to mind. Ukyou and Ryouga had known about this. Kasumi sighed, wondering whether to be grateful to them for not revealing Nabiki's secret. Or to perhaps be upset that they had told no one.

Kasumi sighed in frustration. Well, it did certainly explain Nabiki's actions over the last day, she had certainly gone to lengths that she usually reserved for family members. If it was true, then Kasumi could understand why she had nearly pushed herself to breaking.

"That talk I need to have with her has gotten longer." She stood up and left the room, walking downstairs to the telephone, everybody else was still interrogating the girl that Nabiki's plan had created. She picked up the phone and dialled Ucchans. The phone rang several times before she considered something. "Hmm, I wonder if Ukyou put that herb in both okonomiyaki?"

Two forms lay huddled on the roof next to Ucchan's sleeping soundly next to each other.

"Kodachi, you're living there," Mousse noted. "I doubt they would have minded you staying."

"It's…too much," she noted. The current craziness and her own free-flowing memories were giving her a headache. "Besides I haven't seen where you live yet, and I don't want to be impolite." She smiled quietly. Then they arrived at Mousse's "home."

"Its more like camping out," he muttered. Kodachi looked at the circus trailer curiously, sitting in the middle of this clearing in the woods, Nerima behind them and the sun going down.

"You must be joking," Kodachi said irritably. Then she sighed, at least it was quiet up here. "Is there just the one room in there?"

"Yes, but there are two beds, so don't worry," Mousse commented. "Even were it not so I've camped on the ground before."

"Thank you," Kodachi said, clutching her head. "I think I'll follow that wretched Nabiki's example and get some sleep."

"Nabiki give up," Shampoo noted glumly.

"We can't worry about that now," Cologne noted. "We have that girl to consider."

"What wrong with girl?" Shampoo asked as they walked along towards the Nekohanten.

"If she is the son-in-law's girl side, then she has beaten you in combat," Shampoo stared at Cologne. "You must kill her, Shampoo."

[The Amazon and the Moneylender contents page.][1]

[Part 10][2]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/aatm.html
   [2]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/shamnabi10.html



	10. Shampoo chooses her sides. Lemon

The Amazon and the Moneylender Part 10

"Great-Grandma why you make me wait if you want me kill girl-type Ranma?" Shampoo asked irritably as they were opening the next day.

"It is unwise to just charge into a situation that you have no knowledge of," Cologne answered. "If this is like the other times that the son-in-law's girl side has been split she could be much more dangerous than she seems. It was not wise of the Tendos to send us away last night."

"But if she just normal girl, why wait?" Shampoo asked, turning on the stove.

"We shall need to see how the Tendos and Saotomes react to her," Cologne answered. "Not to mention just how much of the son-in-law's prowess she has."

"If the Tendos and Saotomes accept her?"

"Acquiring the son-in-law's strength for the tribe is a priority," Cologne said after a moment's thought. "But she must die eventually. Can you provide any information on how Nabiki would treat the girl?" Shampoo blinked and looked at her tribal Matriarch.

"Nabiki see herself responsible," Shampoo said after a moment. "If girl, threat, she'll help kill. If not, she'll help girl."

"It would be to our benefit for the girl to be a threat then," Cologne smiled. "I think we can arrange that." Shampoo looked at Cologne nervously. If anybody could actually trick Nabiki, Cologne could, but Nabiki would find out about it eventually. She didn't want to know the results of that discovery, that blank expression on her face last night was bad enough.

"Kasumi?" Ukyou blinked as the eldest Tendo entered Ucchan's. This was unusual, but she had some questions to ask about last night. Like what happened with that half-Chinese version of Ranma-chan, not too mention how she Ryouga ended up passing out within a hundred feet of home. "What are you doing here?"

"I've never gotten the chance to see your establishment here," Kasumi said smiling nicely. She walked to the counter and sat down demurely on one of the stools, maintaining a perfect lady-like serenity. "There are also some things we need to talk about, where's Ryouga?"

"Good question," she looked around. "Ryouga!"

"Almost there," the muffled shout came from a room in the back somewhere.

"How interesting," Kasumi said. "Where's he trying to go?"

"He thinks he dropped something in the closet."

"I see."

"Did you give Nabiki that money yet?" Ukyou asked. "I really don't want to cheat that poor girl out of her commission."

"Nabiki is still asleep, actually." Kasumi answered cheerfully.

"Oh that's right," Ukyou glanced at Kasumi carefully. "She had an meal to herself."

"Oh dear, you used it on both okonomiyakis, didn't you?"

"We're lucky we didn't catch a cold."

"I'm so very sorry about that," Kasumi apologized. "But I needed to get her to sleep, and she would watch for it coming from me."

"But she'd already slept half the day."

"Well, it looked like that anyway," Kasumi sighed. Ryouga appeared behind Ukyou looking somewhat confused.

"How did you move the dining room into the back of the restaurant?" Ryouga asked. Then he saw Kasumi. "Uh, hi Kasumi, what are you doing here?" The eldest Tendo sister set a flask on the counter.

"We never got the chance to give you your cure," Kasumi smiled as Ukyou and Ryouga sweatdropped. "Or so you hope, and if I were you, I'd have a talk with my little sister."

"Soon." Ukyou added, recovering from her surprise that Kasumi would know about P-chan.

"Uh, thanks Kasumi," Ryouga said, sitting down shame-facedly. Kasumi stood up to leave, and then seemed to remember something.

"Oh, that's right," Kasumi turned towards gracefully. "My sister said something funny while she was falling asleep last night."

"Really, what was that?" Ukyou asked, not understanding how this could involve them.

"She said something about being in love with Shampoo," Kasumi continued looking on serenely while Ukyou and Ryouga face faulted. "I was wondering how much you two know about this?"

"Uh, why would we know anything about it?" Ukyou asked, suddenly concentrating strongly on her cooking.

"Well, I had been wondering why you've been so jumpy around her and Shampoo," Kasumi noted. "Which would have been easy to understand if Ryouga hadn't continuously had to remind you 'we promised not to tell,' over the past month or so." Ryouga and Ukyou stared at her blank-faced.

"Are you sure that you're Kasumi?" Ryouga asked finally.

"My sister is spreading herself dangerously thin," Kasumi noted. "It would be nice to understand why."

"We caught them…on a date," Ukyou explained, editing certain facts out. She could tell by Kasumi's face that the Tendo had assumed some of what was left unsaid.

"I see," Kasumi noted. "Nabiki doesn't seem to think Shampoo feels the same way."

"Nabiki said as much to Ukyou," Ryouga agreed.

"Yeah, right," Ukyou hmphed.

"You disagree?"

"When I told her Nabiki had tried to fight Ken, she dropped a platter," Ukyou explained. "She certainly hasn't given up on Ranchan though." Ryouga looked at her cautiously.

"Ranchan?"

"Hey, he's my oldest _friend_," Ukyou noted.

"She came to check on Nabiki early yesterday as well," Kasumi noted. The Tendo wondered a moment if the amazon knew how much pain she was causing her sister. "Then you don't think she's using my sister?"

"No more than anybody else that pays her fees," Ukyou sniffed. 

"Hmm, this is an uncomfortable situation, perhaps you could continue to keep quite about it?"

Ryouga shrugged, it wasn't like he didn't have his own secrets. Though, then again, they were about to make him give one of those up. Still his situation and Nabiki's were somewhat different. He'd dug his own grave, unlike the reportedly heartless Nabiki.

"I won't promise anything if Shampoo keeps getting in my face about me and Ryochan," Kasumi glanced at the blushing Ryouga and blinked before smiling serenely.

"Yes, well we'll do what we can then, won't we?" Kasumi said. "That black eye looks much better by the way. I did warn you and Akane to be careful." Ukyou took a moment to consider whether Kasumi really knew about that, and decided not to chance it.

"It's healing nicely, thanks," Ukyou mumbled.

"Akane usually hits harder than that, though," Ryouga noted. Ukyou and Kasumi sweatdropped. "Weird."

"Well, I should be getting back soon," Kasumi stood up and bowed on her way out.

"Hey, Ryochan, why don't we spend the next couple of days training?" she asked. "I want to get the Baksai Tenketsu down before we get your weapon skills up."

"I'm fine with weapons," Ryouga muttered. It was already becoming an old argument. He knew what was coming by the smirk on Ukyou's face.

"Yeah," Ukyou agreed, she flipped her okonomiyaki. Before the dish could land again she had drawn her battle-spatula slashed over Ryouga's head and sent a salvo of six mini-spatulas scraping past Ryouga into the wall across the room. Ryouga didn't blink as Ukyou replaced the battle spatula and caught the okonomiyaki with the cooking version of the same tool. "But I'm better."

"If only you knew how to throw a punch."

*CLANG*

Nabiki woke with a headache, this was quick becoming an uncomfortable constant in her life. She ticked off the variety of headaches she experienced recently. There was the concussion from the fight with Ken, the exhaustion headache when she "woke up" last night, and now this. She was fairly certain what the cause of this was. She turned to the clock and gave an irritated sigh.

"They let me sleep for fifteen hours?" Nabiki blinked. She took a quick survey of her condition. The shoulder was still tender, but whatever healing techniques the Amazons had used were holding, and the arm was usable despite the fall she had taken last night. Her ankle hurt though, she had twisted it in keeping enough of a stance to get the water towards Akane when Genma rushed her. Other than that she had the headache and a mass of other annoying injuries.

She stood up and limped to her desk, and picked up a mirror. Carefully undoing the bandage on her face she examined the slash. It had been shallow and was healing nicely, a thin, scabbed line ranging from the outer corner of her eye to her chin. She couldn't tell yet, but she hoped it wouldn't leave much of a scar. She could do without distinguishing features.

"I should not have tried for confirmation," she muttered. "Too much risk." Everything she had done recently had been risk heavy.

Nabiki glanced at her door, hearing the sound of angry Chinese, as she replaced the bandage on her face. It was the girl the spring water had created. If she had brought home more spring of drowned twins water, she could have, perhaps, tried again. Though she was fairly certain that she couldn't splash Ranma a second time. She sat back on her bed and examined the floor. "What are you? Some kind of pervert?"

"You can't just run around beating on people," Nabiki heard Ranma insist.

"You don't know what that jerk has put me through!" Nabiki stood up carefully wiping at her eyes, and schooling her expression to its normal bored appearance.

"Actually he does," Nabiki said as she walked out of her room. Ranma was holding the red-haired girl up off the ground by her shirt. "I assume you're talking about Genma?"

"That damn panda-man's name is Genma?"

"Good Morning, Nabiki," Ranma said cautiously. He noted how Nabiki held herself a moment and then spoke in a more concerned tone. "Should you be out of bed?"

"I'm fine Ranma, sore, but fine," Nabiki insisted. "Now, I missed much of what happened last night, I hear when it sounded like you were using Genma for a tent peg though. Something Ranma should have done long ago actually."

"Hey, she agrees with me," the girl noted. Ranma smacked his free hand into his face.

~Time to see how much damage I've done," Nabiki sighed, she would prefer to get the girl alone, but that might not be a good idea. Still, Ranma would make a decent chaperone. "I'm going to walk to Dr. Tofu's for a check up, perhaps you can come along and we could bring…" she looked at the girl expectantly.

"Ranko," the girl snapped.

"Of course, bring Ranko along with us," Nabiki said. "Considering the circumstances of her…arrival, it is only prudent."

"Yeah, it'll keep her out of trouble anyway," Ranma mumbled, indicating the girl with her arms crossed and hanging by her shirt from Ranma's grip. Getting Ranko to Dr. Tofu's had always seemed a good idea to him, and of course he realized that Nabiki meant to use him as a bodyguard.

"How did I get here anyway?"

"We spilled what suppose was water of drowned twins on Ranma," Nabiki answered, ignoring Ranma's glare. "You were the result."

"Huh?" she blinked.

"Can I put you down," Ranma asked. "Or will you just run off after the old man?"

"I couldn't find him now anyway," she grumbled. She started pouting and mumbling in chinese.

"Good, then let's go," Nabiki declared. "I want to catch up on what happened last night anyway." She started toward the stairs, trying not to limp. Looking back and Ranma and "Ranko," she decided it wasn't a very successful attempt. She frowned and continued walking. "I'm really feeling much better." Ranma disappeared into his room for a minute and returned with his post-malleting walking stick and tossed it to Nabiki.

"Hey, I don't want your father doing that demon head thing because I let you hurt yourself," Ranma protested at Nabiki's insulted look.

"Well, are we ready now?" Nabiki asked. Ranko mumbled something in Chinese before following after the limping girl. They had walked nearly half a block when Nabiki started asking questions. "So who named you Ranko?"

"She…"

"I was asking her," Ranma shrugged irritably, but kept quiet. "Where did you get the name?"

"I've always had the name," she blinked. "What were you saying about spring of drowned twins, what's that?"

"Do you know what Jusenkyo is?"

"Sounds familiar…" she answered, still pouting. "I remember almost drowning though…" Nabiki blinked and examined the girl's chi, comparing it to Ranma's, quickly coming to the same conclusion everybody else had last night.

"Does anything seem familiar to you?"

"We're going to a healer right?" she asked. "And a sifu too?"

"Doc?" Ranma asked. "Yeah, but the proper term is sensei, but no trick there, we told you as much."

"There's a sifu-healer in the village and you walk the same direction from An Kai's home that we're walking now to get there," she scrunched her eyes in confusion, well aware that she was being watched. "Great healer too, unless An Kai's sister is around, then he's dangerous."

"That sounds like Dr. Tofu around Kasumi!"

"Interesting," Nabiki commented. "And how did you recognize Genma?"

"It's him all right," Ranko growled. "He got fat and bald, but its him, I can't even look at a c..c.c..cat now! Its his fault I missed my trials too!"

"Trials?" Ranma asked. "What trials." He glanced at Nabiki, but couldn't see anything there to answer his questions. Then they were in front of the clinic.

"Well, here we are," Nabiki smiled. She glanced at Ranko, the girl looked confused, scared and a little ill. It was hard to tell as of yet, but Nabiki didn't think she would prove to be a problem.

"I'm home!" Akane called out as she entered the house back from a jog. It was about a minute before she realized that nobody was home except for her. The house had that curious echoing sound, she sighed in irritation as she started scanning the rooms. She found a note in the room Ranma and his father shared.

"Nabiki asked me to walk her and my girl-side to the Doc's." Akane grumbled, but that had seemed the most logical thing, and it was past time for Nabiki to check in with Dr. Tofu. She peaked into the guest-room Kodachi had been using and noticed the bed had not been slept in. She didn't blame the girl for not staying here after last night. Akane had no clue where Kasumi had gone, but she found a rather long-winded note in Genma's hand in the family room.

"We have embarked a journey of self-discovery in such places of enlightenment that you young children  
could not hope to experience." Akane quickly translated it into the following. "We're hiding from the psycho girl in a bar, we took the shogi board."

"Idiots," Akane growled. She heard the door open and saw Kodachi cautiously walking into the house.

"Is everybody gone?" she asked.

"Yeah, boring isn't it," Akane muttered. "So where were you last night?" Kodachi blushed.

"Nothing happened," she declared haughtily. "I just wanted some quiet."

"I don't blame you," Akane said. "Though I could use a little noise for the moment."

"Tendo-sensei," Akane sighed wistfully and turned to Kodachi. "Can you teach me some more?"

"Sure, nothing else to do," Akane shrugged standing up and heading for the dojo. Then in a half-joking tone she added: "We can discuss the so-called men."

"Indeed." Kodachi nodded in agreement. "Did you discover which flasks were which?"

"Yes, Kamisama, Genma makes an ugly woman," Akane shivered. "He makes an ugly man too."

"Then afterwords I suppose I'll bring a flask of the appropriate item back to Mousse," Kodachi managed to still sound haughty.

"I am NOT a magical compost!"

"Construct," Tofu corrected, as he finished taping up Nabiki's ankle, it turned out that she had sprained it. Needless to say, the middle Tendo was very irritated at this. 

"Whatever, I don't buy it, I have memories," Ranko snapped. "I don't know about this drowned spring water junk. I have to get back home for the trials! I'm already behind on the training."

Ranma sat on the counter looking bored.

"I think you'll find that if you were to compare your memories with Ranma that his are similar in number of places."

"Has he ever been dropped in a pit of hungry cats wrapped in…"

"Yes." The other three said at once.

"Used as a distraction so someone could escape a pack of wolves?"

"Now that I don't…" Dr. Tofu didn't manage to finish.

"It was a bear." Everybody looked at Ranma and blinked. "And actually he was using the bear to get away from me." 

"Uh, huh," Nabiki said. "You need to explain to me some day why you still hang around your father."  
"That panda-man is your father!"

"Unfortunately so," he muttered. 

"Oh…I'm sorry, hey!" she rubbed her arm and glared at Dr. Tofu who was examining a small syringe of blood.  
"What did you do that for?"

"I'm going to compare your and Ranma's blood," the doctor answered. "Should prove interesting."

"Aren't you going to take a sample of his blood?" Ranko pouted. Dr. Tofu absent-mindedly opened a fridge near his counter and revealed rows of blood samples, each of the local martial artists had a row of samples.

"I've had plenty of earlier opportunities," he looked to the two Saotomes thoughtfully. "I don't think you need to stay here if you don't want to, but perhaps you should stay close to Ranma or Akane for a while."

"What do you mean by that," Ranko asked. "I can take care of myself."

"Not compared to Ranma you can't," the Doctor insisted. "I can tell by how you move, but other people are going to assume that you are Ranma. Until people figure out that you aren't, or until you get some more training, you should probably watch your step." Tofu sighed, he assumed that the non-Ranma half of the girl was no where near as highly trained as Ranma.

"What, are they blind or something?" Ranko blinked. "Or do you still expect me to believe that magic water stuff?"

"What about the curse?" Nabiki put in, curious mostly.

"Yeah, am I still going to change?"

"Doubtful," Tofu said. "The entire section of your aura that represented the curse is now interwoven in her aura."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm guessing the water of drowned twins found the excess chi on Ranma's aura and split it off as a more efficient method of completing its task." Tofu shrugged. Nabiki nodded, at least it seemed she had managed to cure Ranma, sort of. "There is a way to be sure of course."

"And what is...hey!" a suddenly wet Ranma shouted. "What did you...hey I'm still a guy!"

"Gee, what a surprise," an equally wet Ranko muttered. "I'm tired of this mumbo-jumbo, I've got things to do!" she zipped quickly out of the room.

"I got it, I got it," Ranma said following after her. Tofu turned to Nabiki and cupped his chin.

"I'm usually seeing Akane Tendo here," he said.

"Don't worry," Nabiki said, irritably stepping down from the examination table and getting used to the feel of a pair of crutches. "I don't have anything going on that I need to do much for, and I won't be initiating any new business." She started limping out of the clinic. Dr. Tofu watched her with some concern, Nabiki was much more passive than was normal for her. Actually, resigned seemed to be a more appropriate word.  
  
"Nabiki," Kasumi called out as she saw her sister walking back towards the dojo. The girl turned around stiffly and blinked, her sister was upset about something. Something other than the fact that Nabiki was walking around instead of resting.

"Did Ukyou know what she was feeding me?"

"[We have things to discuss, Nabiki,]" Kasumi spoke quickly in soft, sibilant tongue that seemed to pool in the air. Nabiki's eyes popped wide and she scanned the area for onlookers quickly.

"We don't speak that out in the open!" Nabiki snapped. "What are you thinking?"

"Since you've returned," Kasumi continued calmly, now that she had Nabiki's attention. "Since you  
left, actually, you seem to have been on a mission of self-destruction. I've been wondering why."

"Don't be stupid," Nabiki felt rather silly yelling at her sister, especially knowing that Kasumi wouldn't be rising to the bait. "I've had a run of severe bad luck. That is all." Nabiki thought about trying to ignore her sister and continue home, but that might not have been a good idea.

"You're pining over Shampoo," Kasumi corrected, with an upraised eyebrow.

"Just how much did I say last night," Nabiki demanded icily.

"You predicted war and death," Kasumi said calmly.

"And said you loved Shampoo."

"That is my business," Nabiki snapped.

"Even if I did not disapprove, even if you weren't killing yourself over this," Kasumi responded calmly.  
"It is our business when the family's only adept starts blurting family secrets and then fancying herself capable of fighting a powerful martial artist, With a knife no less."

"The mistake was in waking him up to ask questions," Nabiki insisted. ~Not to mention that aside from this last week, I haven't entered the astral or worked the simplest spells since Mom died, and if he was Kento Kage...well I was lucky either way.~

"And what questions did you need to ask him." Nabiki looked about again for watchers, using chi sight to double check.

"I heard him use the name Kento Kage," Nabiki whispered. Kasumi gasped in surprise, but quickly recovered herself.

"Copycat Ken, whether he was the Traitor or not," Kasumi noted, not falling for the subject change. "Is dead. It does not change things, you need to stop dwelling on Shampoo, it isn't accomplishing anything."

"I know that," Nabiki said and laughed bitterly. "I most definitely know that." She tried to ignore the feeling of her sister's concerned stare at her back, but couldn't quite do it. Kasumi might lack viciousness, but she was tenacious, and she was as protective of family as Nabiki or Akane.

"We're just going up into the hills for a couple of days Ryouga," Ukyou said, sweatdropping. She was newly amazed, however, at just how much stuff Ryouga could fit in a single backpack, much less two. "Umm, that's all I ever plan to do," Ryouga said sheepishly. Ukyou rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well I think I have the solution for that," Ukyou said, she walked into the hallway, opened the  
closet and returned with a length of cable. 

"We're not doing any mountaineering," Ryouga said, before moving to finish up his packing.

"Jackass," Ukyou muttered, and moved forward to clip the cable first to Ryouga's belt, then to hers.  
  
"There, now you can't wander off."

"Uh," Ryouga sweatdropped. "Heh, heh. Umm..Food, tent, kettle, first aid kits...hmm?"

"Something wrong?" Ukyou was glancing at the multiple first aid kits.

"Not sure I have room for the rain gear," he scratched his head as he pondered how to proceed.   
He didn't notice Ukyou rolling her eyes and walking to the dresser. 

"Ugh," the noise was followed by a thudding sound, Ryouga turned to see Ukyou fallen flat on her rear. 

"Heh, maybe I need a longer cable, heh." Ryouga and Ukyou sweatdropped. She unhooked herself and  
snagged the flask off the counter.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "I thought you wanted me to do that in front of Akane."

"Yeah, well lying unconscious with only a pig to help me doesn't sound very appealing," she poured the water over Ryouga, standing as far back from the dripping water as possible. Ryouga felt the familiar tingle of transformation  
only for a moment. Not that the transformation ever lasted more than an instant, but it certainly felt like an eternity to the victims. It was as if the process started, found nothing to change, and stopped. Looking down saw himself, still human.  
"YES!!" the lost boy leaped up, hit the ceiling, went through it and then dropped, making the first hole larger.

"Ryouga are you okay?" Ukyou asked concerned.

"Yeah, that wasn't enough to hurt me," he said sheepishly.

"And, it worked! Your not a pig!" Ukyou embraced him cheerfully.

"Yes, finally I shall no longer have to worry about this humiliating curse!" Ryouga declared. "I'm a  
whole man again!"

"Good," Ukyou said before narrowing her eyes and pointing up. "BECAUSE LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO OUR  
CEILING!!!" 

"Oh, sorry," Ryouga said nervously, before Ukyou burst out laughing.

  
"Mousse," Kodachi called out, attracting the blind boy's attention.

"Kodachi? What are you doing here?" Mousse asked.

"She always here, duck-boy," Shampoo snapped.

"I came to bring this," she brandished the still sealed flask. "To Mousse, you conniving gaijin!"

"Oh," Mousse took the flask and looked at it. "Thanks."

"Ah, Kuno-san," Kodachi turned toward the whithered old crone. "And how are things at the Tendo dojo?"

"That is hardly your concern," Kodachi said haughtily, if with not so high pitched a voice as usual. Her headache was better, but it was still present as a shadow. "I'm here mainly to give..." she turned back to Mousse and face faulted. "You DRANK it??"

"Was I not supposed to?" Mousse asked, confused. "It was very refreshing by the way."

"Baka! That was your cure!" Mousse blinked, though no one could tell through the glasses.

"You mean I just drank away my best chance to be normal again?" Mousse asked. Cologne snickered.

"Stupid duck-boy still stupid duck-boy," Shampoo muttered as she left for a delivery.

"I've had enough of you old crone!" Kodachi snapped and moved to orbit kick Cologne. She blinked in surprise on finding herself thrown across the street into the garbage.

"Hey, you dried-up old monkey!" Mousse followed Kodachi directly.

"What happened?" Kodachi asked as she tried to remember the sequence of events that led to her in the trash.

"Cologne is...very good."

  
"Hey, wait up!" The girl turned around and shouted something Chinese that Ranma was certain was an insult. "Why do I get stuck as the baby sitter?" he wondered irritably. He put on a burst of speed to catch up with the girl and then pass her. 

"Get out of my way!" She launched an kick at his head, which Ranma caught easily enough. She had potential, though he had considered that obvious. She was at least half him after all. Ranko didn't stop there of course, launching into  
a flurry of punches that would have worried when he had first arrived in Nerima. As it was, he found them easy  
to counter, and he was actually fairly bored, though he hoped Ranko couldn't tell that. She gave up when Ranma dodged a sweep by flipping over her. Then she settled for merely shouting at him in a bizarre mixture of Japanese and Chinese.

"Listen, Ranko," he shook his head, irritably. "Could you try to calm down and pick one language, preferably Japanese?"

"I'm real!" 

"I couldn't guess," Ranma growled.

"You know what I mean," she sat on the roof he had finally caught up to her on, and pouted. "If he's right then all my memories are wrong, but I know they aren't!"

"Idiot! You can't always know that," Ranma snapped, thinking about the nightmare lands again. "Take a moment to look yourself over." 

"You are a pervert!"

"Just do it," Ranma sighed. 

"Why?"

"Any scars, or blemishes?" he asked. "Yeah, right here…" she blinked at the blank flesh. "Must have healed, well there's always this…the spear…I know the spear has to…" She tipped up her shirt corner, not noticing Ranma blush and look away.  
"What happened to me?!"

"Newborns don't got scars," Ranma said. "Not usually anyway."

"I'm seventeen years old thank you!"

"Haven't you noticed that some of your memories don't make sense?" Ranma asked. "Like the mongols with the Okinawan accent."

"That could happen," she whined, Ranma looked at her reproachfully. "This isn't fair!" She started crying, and Ranma reluctantly let her lean on his shoulder, cautiously looking about for Akane. Unnoticed by either a small form dropped out of the green shadows of a tree and padded carefully away. 

"Master Kuno will want to hear of this," the whisper carried only a small distance before dying away.  
  
Shampoo waited until after closing time, when Cologne was going to sleep. It wouldn't do for her great-grandma to catch her. She would be suspicious at least, and if she guessed the truth, would have been furious. Shampoo was not going to allow her to trick Nabiki though. When an amazon was dishonored they were exiled and expected to go on a quest to regain their honor. The Japanese had this curious little tradition called seppuku, and while she doubted Nabiki would  
ever do something like that, she didn't want to take the chance.

Besides, since Nabiki had gotten back she hadn't done more than speak a few sentences to the girl. She had still been a little mad, of course, but hadn't gotten much of a chance to vocalize it. Nabiki had been avoiding her, she knew it, but she didn't know why. When Shampoo had seen Nabiki, the Tendo was hardly her normal self. Shampoo wanted the dryly  
sarcastic girl back, and Nabiki's current behavior was scaring her.

As the lights started dying out in the Tendo dojo, Shampoo moved. When she wanted to, the girl could move with absurd stealth, she didn't have to break down walls to get into places. But it annoyed Akane. The window opened quietly and Shampoo stepped in, and then goggled at all the charms around the room. 

"How anyone sleep in here?" she asked. 

"They actually very relaxing." Shampoo turned to see Nabiki sitting up on her bed, looking at Shampoo quietly. "Why are you here Shampoo?"

"You okay?" the amazon asked. Shampoo darted in close and reached out to gingerly remove the bandage on Nabiki's face. She nodded satisfactorily. "Healing nice, not much of a scar." Nabiki couldn't think straight, Shampoo was right there with her, and she could think of was how it was an impossible dream.

"Lock the door," she managed to get out. "You don't want my family seeing you in here." Shampoo stood up and shrugged before walking to Nabiki's door and placing the deadlocks in place. She glanced at the crutches and flinched inwardly, this most recent injury had been for Shampoo's benefit, even if it hadn't come out the way Nabiki had intended.

"Shampoo warn you," Nabiki looked up. "Great grandma say have to kill red-haired girl."

"I see," Nabiki sighed quietly. "Why are you telling me this."

"Great-grandma want make girl seem to be threat," Shampoo said. "Then you help us kill her." Nabiki was  
aghast, trick her to aid in murder! How dare that old crone.

"And how do you feel about this," Nabiki asked. "Shampoo not face half-breed in match," Shampoo noted. "She face Ranma." Nabiki looked down at her feet where they set against the floor. That horrible blank look came across her face before it passed below Shampoo's sight. Then the girl's shoulders started to shake quietly, Shampoo cautiously moved forward and bent to look in her face, she immediately stood straight up again. Nabiki was crying!?

"I made a total mess of things Shampoo," she whimpered. "Everything is wrong. You and Akane are going to die fighting over Ranma, I know it." Shampoo sat down on the bed next to the weeping girl, and gingerly reached arm around her to pat her back. 

"You fix many things," Shampoo insisted. This wasn't good, seeing her friend like this, it almost seemed to physically hurt. Like when Nabiki blamed herself for Kuno attacking Ukyou, though that was just a shadow of the present situation. She kept thinking back to that daydream, with a brightly smirking Nabiki, full of confidence and fire. That image had  
been stuck in her mind.

"Only what I broke in the first place," Nabiki sighed. "I should stick to money. Money doesn't have a life to…" Shampoo turned Nabiki to face her and the Tendo girl stopped talking as she turned to look at Shampoo. Those purple eyes that caught her once before were filled with intense worry as Shampoo carefully brushed some of the bangs away from Nabiki's face.

"Shampoo?" The amazon moved in and kissed the shocked moneylender. Nabiki was too surprised at first to respond, but as Shampoo pull her full body in she began to understand that it was really happening. After several moments they broke off and stared at each other in surprise, Nabiki still firmly in Shampoo's embrace. Shampoo blinked as she realized  
that the kiss wasn't near enough for her now.

"We have to be quiet," Shampoo said softly as Nabiki just nodded. She hesistantly reached her arms around Shampoo, still half-expecting this to be a dream. The Japanese girl initiated her own kiss, closing her eyes to focus on the feel and the taste.  
  
The scents of ramen spices, incense and the tang of blood mixed as she inhaled them. Shampoo hesitated when Nabiki didn't resist being lowered to the bed. The yielding confused her, she expected Nabiki to be domineering. Everything she knew about Nabiki told her the girl liked to be in control, and this fading seemed strange. 

"You hurt?" Shampoo asked cautiously, pulling away. Nabiki arched her eyebrow in her usual "what do you think" manner, and reached back up to gently encircle Shampoo's head in her arms, and assuage her doubts with another kiss. Shampoo pushed downward again, hesitantly as she tried to figure out why Nabiki was acting so oddly.

Nabiki was no less confused. Shampoo refused to be led. She was having to draw the girl out more than she thought would be necessary. Every time she thought Shampoo was taking the lead, the amazon hesitated. It was strange, quite unlike what she expected.

Hands and lips roamed, and eyes met momentarily. Each regarded the other with the same unasked for inquiry. ~Why are you holding back?~ Both decided to change tactics, still thinking in terms of plan and counter.

Restraint remained, as Shampoo carefully avoided aggravating Nabiki's injuries. This mildly frustrated the Tendo, who found herself prevented from doing everything she wanted to. Both were trying to keep as quiet as possible, worried about discovery.

Which of the two gave in first was too close to call. Perhaps Nabiki stopped trying to lead Shampoo on. Maybe Shampoo gave up trying to figure out Nabiki. At some point they merely tossed out whatever strategies they had in mind. Slowly they started responding to each other, rather than their own expectations. Pressure of one kind faded into another, and the pressure built. Until, finally paired screams died in a shared embrace.

Then the two girls wearily fell back on Nabiki's bed, staring at each other in sweat-coated awe. They didn't even fight the exhaustion that pulled them gently down to sleep, in each other's arms.

[The Amazon and the Moneylender Contents][1]

[Part 11][2]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/aatm.html
   [2]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/shamnabi11.html



	11. Kasumi and Nabiki at odds.

The Amazon and the Moneylender Part 11

Ranma glanced at the line of approaching dawn far out on the horizon. Not even Kasumi usually got up this early, he should have plenty of privacy. Just to be certain he had moved to the vacant lot.

He took in a deep breath, released it, and took another. After so many near-misses and temporary cures he hadn't been about to get excited about another apparent cure until he was certain the cure was permanent. Fortunately, having to keep an eye on Ranko had made it fairly easy to keep himself calm on the matter, not to mention the repeated attempts to start training Akane in the Amaguriken. Now it certainly appeared that his miserable life as a half-man was over, for good.

He released another breath, and ignored the shimmering red aura that was building up around him. He took in another breath.

"YES!!!" the shimmering red aura blazed, momentarily bright and festive, as he rose his arms to the sky. "I'M NEVER TURNING INTO A GIRL AGAIN!!!"

"Ranma," he turned to see Akane looking at him with that cute smile of hers. She rushed forward and hugged, not glomped, the surprised martial artist. "You're finally free." She let him go and they stared at each other for a long moment before either of them spoke.

"Uh…hi Akane…what are you doing up this early?"

"Baka," Akane laughed. "Is that all you can ask?"

"Hey, I'm not good at this stuff," he said blushing, then looked past Akane and sighed. "Great just what I need."

"So am I some sort of ordeal then!" Akane demanded angrily.

"Huh? What? NO! Look over there." Akane turned to see where Ranma was pointing.

"That's were he went," Akane said. "That just leaves Ranko to find, hey he's carrying something."

"Wait a minute, why is Pops heading to the canal?"

Kasumi sat up and looked out the window, daylight was just barely streaming in from the half-risen sun outside. She stretched and yawned before standing up and walking to her dresser drawer. Yesterday had been a little hectic for her taste. Though everything seemed to have settled down by the time dinner came around. Akane and Ranma for once sat on either side of the self-proclaimed "Ranko," for which the nervous Genma was extremely grateful. Ranko, for her part, refrained from attacking Genma constantly. Though the presence of Akane and Ranma to keep her from doing so might have had something to do with that. Soun read his paper as usual, probably for the fifth time that day. Kodachi sat opposite from Soun at the other end of the table and ate while glancing at Ranma questioningly. Nabiki had eaten in silence, paying nominal, for her, attention to the discussion.

"Well, it had to be said," Kasumi hmphed. Nabiki couldn't go on dwelling on that…untoward fantasy.

As long as Nabiki was convinced that Shampoo did not reciprocate the feelings nothing more would happen along that path. She would eventually forget about that and find a good husband as was proper. Kasumi dressed quickly and efficiently, she had already wasted enough time this morning sleeping in. Even if the rest of the family slept through until noon she had things to do. The eldest Tendo girl paused at Nabiki's room to check on her sister. She found it locked.

"Nabiki," Kasumi called quietly, and not hearing anything. Kasumi couldn't sense much past the various charms she had placed about Nabiki's room. Last night she had thought there was almost something, but it was finished almost before she completely woke up. She remembered at the time wondering if perhaps Nabiki had tried the astral barriers. 

Now, however, she considered other possibilities. Extreme emotion could have produced the same straining effect. Recently, Nabiki had, in her opinion, failed her family, the person she thought she loved, and generally had her ego smashed many times over. Despair had been the dominant emotion in her mind. That was not good. Kasumi quietly scolded herself for not checking on her sister immediately. She knocked solidly.

"Nabiki, are you in there?" Kasumi yelled a little louder. Nabiki wouldn't do anything rash, not while she thought it possible to fix some of the damage. Besides she was a rather untraditional girl in many ways, ritual suicide was too impractical for her tastes. Despite these self-assurances, Kasumi breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she heard movement in the room.

"What is it Kasumi," she heard Nabiki call out. "Its early and no school for two more days." There was some more motion behind the door. It sounded almost like a flurry of motion actually. Kasumi stepped back and straightened, considering this, her eyes narrowed. 

"Your door is locked," Kasumi said, calmly. "I was concerned."

"Concerned about what?" Nabiki asked evenly from behind the door.

"I thought perhaps that you had….done something rash," Kasumi admitted. There was a long moment of silence.

"I'm going back to sleep Kasumi," Nabiki said firmly. Kasumi did not fail to note that Nabiki had not moved to open the door at all during the conversation.

"Breakfast will be ready soon," Kasumi said by way of slight apology as she moved downstairs.

"Do something rash," Nabiki hmphed as she slipped her pajamas on. "I wonder what she means by that?"

"Maybe she think you seppuku?" Shampoo asked quietly, pausing in her search for where her pants had ended up. Nabiki looked up and the comment on her tongue died as she saw the worried expression on Shampoo's face.

"I was _that_ bad," she said, in a shocked voice. Shampoo sat down next to her again and gingerly circled her arms around Nabiki's shoulders, and kissed her cheek.

"Not now?" Shampoo asked quietly, and then snuggled closer kissing Nabiki's neck. "You fine now?" Nabiki giggled quietly and turned to kiss Shampoo in return.

"I'm fine," she agreed, smiling. "But if we try this now, we'll get caught."

"Shampoo need get back home," the Amazon nodded. They made no move to separate, though, just staring at each other for a long moment. Then Shampoo reluctantly let go of Nabiki and glanced to the pile of gathered blanket, finally seeing her pants.

"We'll need to talk about things," Nabiki whispered, finishing her redressing. "But right now, you have to get out of here before anyone notices." She paused, considering each person's probable reactions. "Too much could happen."

"Be soon, before Great-grandma say time to kill girl-type Ranma," Shampoo noted. "Park on my lunch?"

"I'll get there, and bring the water of drowned girl," Nabiki said. 

"Duck-boy drink his," Shampoo said. Nabiki looked at her in disbelief, too bad for Mousse that Genma had managed to destroy most of her extras.

"Somebody was bound to get stuck," Shampoo helped her stand up from the bed, and held her as she grabbed the crutches. "Thanks." Shampoo waited until she was settled on the crutches before letting go, and kissing Nabiki again. After a long moment she pulled away again. 

"Go now, before she comes and checks on me again," Nabiki whispered, smiling and almost giggling. Shampoo smiled and dropped quietly from Nabiki's window.

"Nabiki, could you come downstairs please?" Nabiki froze, Kasumi's voice had come from…she hobbled to her window and looked down to see a Shampoo staring to a spot on the walkway that passed beneath Nabiki's room. The amazon's face looked mildly shocked to say the least.

"How she get there?"

Nabiki found herself sitting next to a nervously fidgeting Shampoo, while Kasumi came as close as she could to a glower. Anybody who didn't know her would assume that she had burnt a cake or something similarly trivial. This being because they would not know that Kasumi burning _anything_, that she didn't want burnt, would be a sign of the end of the world. Kasumi, for her part, noted that Nabiki was much more like her normal self, and she reluctantly admitted that she was glad of that. She was not glad of the apparent source of the recovery.

"Breakfast is going to be late," she sighed with what sounded like mild frustration. "Excuse me, Shampoo, I would appreciate it if you were to leave."

"Shampoo no leave yet," the Amazon insisted, glancing protectively at Nabiki. Nabiki glanced back and smiled.

"Very well," Kasumi said, folding her arms into her laps. "I am not going to ask what was happening in my sister's room last night, but it is not going to happen again."

"I told you yesterday, this is none of your business," Nabiki insisted. Kasumi blinked, she'd seen Nabiki's back up before, but never against her. Then again, she'd only rarely been in a situation where she had to put her foot down. There really wasn't anything she could do, not legally anyway, and she wasn't about to tell her father about this. She certainly wasn't going to provoke anything between Akane and Nabiki by mentioning that incident.

"I suppose this means that you'll be giving up on Ranma?" Kasumi asked calmly as she poured a cup of tea, perhaps this would work. Shampoo flinched, and Nabiki watched her cautiously.

"Is law," Shampoo admitted. "Shampoo need marry boy-type Ranma."

"And what is my sister then?" Kasumi asked calmly, taking a sip of tea. ~Sorry, Nabiki, you have to hear this.~ Nabiki glared at her sister.

"Nabiki think of something," Shampoo said with all confidence. "Besides, amazon womans often have girlfriend aside from Airen, mens is for babies." Nabiki and Kasumi both looked at Shampoo a little confused, every time they thought the amazons couldn't get any stranger, one of them did or said something to change their mind.

"I see," Kasumi said, taken aback. "And if it came down to a choice between Ranma and Nabiki?"

"Nabiki," Shampoo said, without pause. Kasumi noted that her sister's face lightened up considerably at the choice. "Ranma no like Shampoo, is fun to tease though."

"I could always find my own place," Nabiki said idly. Kasumi blinked at the suggestion. One of her family, outside her care? It was unthinkable, at least while they were all so young. And then she wouldn't be able to convince Nabiki to give up this…oddity she had picked up from somewhere.

"That won't be necessary," Kasumi said. She couldn't stop this now, but if she kept Nabiki around then maybe… "There will be no….activity where anybody else can see you though. And I'd appreciate it if you would refrain from troubling me with it as well." Kasumi stood up, ignoring the victorious expression her sister only thinly veiled. "Now I have breakfast to make, and…_she_ should probably be getting to work." Kasumi had her back turned but she heard the quiet kiss as Shampoo stood up.

Nabiki smiled as Shampoo waved goodbye and left. She hadn't wanted to upset Kasumi, but she had been left with little choice in the matter. Kasumi might not like the situation, but she wouldn't hurt _anybody_, much less someone her sister cared about. Nabiki was expecting to see Kasumi play matchmaker though.

Nabiki schooled her face into a normal bored expression as she heard the door slam open and then closed. She heard the door open twice more as Genma flew through the main room out into the courtyard. Nabiki blinked, what was he doing up so early?

"Get back here Pops!!" Ranma shouted. Close behind him was Akane, mallet in hand.

"How anybody could be so low!"

"It's a legitimate training technique," Genma claimed as he rushed down through the dining area out to the pond. 

Nabiki was about to ponder what the idiot had done now, fortunately the answer presented itself in the form of a sopping wet Ranko. The girl was trying to hop through the living area while venting a vitriolic sounding stream of angry Chinese. The reason for her hopping being the ropes that encircled her several times. Nabiki wrinkled her nose as Ranko passed by, it smelled like she had been dumped in the canal.

"Yeah, teach her to swim without hands and feet right?" Nabiki smirked as Soun came down, it suddenly seemed like just any other day.

"Where have you been granddaughter?" Cologne demanded as Shampoo entered the Nekohanten.

"Tendo dojo," Shampoo said without hesitation. She had two very good reasons, as far as Cologne was concerned, to be there. Ranma and Ranko.

"And did you learn anything?"

"Girl-type Ranma not like panda-man," Shampoo said, she had caught enough of the activities before people went to their beds to know that.

"The groom's fool of a father excels at alienating people," Cologne noted. "That is hardly a surprise."

"Violent-girl and Ranma keep water-girl from attacking Genma," Shampoo noted. "And crazy-girl learning from Akane."

"Has the groom taken part in the Kuno-girl's tuition at all?" Cologne demanded as she took a moment to examine her great-granddaughter.

"He watches," Shampoo confirmed.

"This is not good," Cologne narrowed her eyes. "They have taken a student and both take part in her teaching. This cooperation is not good for our cause. They seem to share responsibility for the twin girl as well. Is there any indication of…other activities between the two?"

"Ranma too big prude," Shampoo waved that one away.

"Don't be too happy about that," the elder amazon snapped. "If the boy had grown up in a normal society he would be much easier to entice." Cologne admitted, however, that he might not also possess his natural talent for martial arts if that were the case.

"Yes, great-grandma," Shampoo said cheerily. Cologne glanced at her curiously as she stepped to the back to get dressed for work.

"You seem quite satisfied with yourself this morning," Cologne noted.

"I guess so grandma," Shampoo shrugged as she came out again, dressed for work. "Is good day."

Cologne narrowed her eyes.

"Are you still conscious?" Ryouga asked nervously. Ukyou's muffled groan came from somewhere in between her face and the rock she was swinging with. "You're getting the hang of this quicker than I thought."

"Huh?" Ukyou blinked, and peeled her head off of the rock. "Eh? What?"

"How many fingers?" Ryouga asked. Ukyou focused, or tried to. 

"Two," Ukyou said. Ryouga always held up two fingers, it was no great trick to convince him that she was fine. Besides she'd almost figured it out that last time.

"Nope, sorry," Ryouga said.

"What?!?" Ukyou snapped. "You always hold up two fingers."

"I didn't hold any up this time." Ryouga said simply as he held the rope Ukyou dangled from and unworked the ropes tying the boulder into the contraption.

"That's NOT fair!" Ukyou snapped as the boulder tumbled to the ground. "I almost had it!"

"Well, when the concussion clears we can start again," Ryouga said.

"I was close," Ukyou growled as she was lowered down to the ground. "Now I'm going to have to start from scratch again." Ukyou looked around as she hit the ground worked her way out of the bindings. Now all she had to do was stand up and she'd give that overprotective pig-boy a piece of her mind. Which is when she found out that standing up wasn't quite an option.

"Just..sit down," Ryouga said as he landed next to the boulder. "Try to clear your head."

~Yeah, I'll clear my head,~ Ukyou thought, considering that it was rather difficult to come up with clever retorts at the moment. "How many times was that anyway?"

"That was the twenty-sixth time," Ryouga said. "You started to get dazed around nineteen."

"I was close right," Ukyou demanded. "I know I was close."

"No…you were concussed," Ryouga said. "But it took a lot longer for you to start really getting hurt. Besides you need to do this part too."

"Huh? This part?" Ukyou blinked. "What's 'this part'?"

"I asked about that after the old ghoul finally admitted what the point of the technique is," Ryouga said. "She said something about accelerating the body's healing processes to keep up with the enhanced endurance and durability."

"And if I didn't do this part?" Ukyou asked.

"Imagine that black eye taking a year to heal." Ukyou blinked, and shook her head.

"Oh…" she noticed that things had stopped spinning. 

"Clear your head, focus on just clearing your head and letting the pain fade."

"Oh and how do I do that?" Ukyou demanded. ~Just wait until its my turn to do some training.~ She smiled mischieviously.

"You can channel battle aura right?" Ukyou nodded. "Same thing, just concentrate on healing instead of fighting." Ukyou rolled her eyes, but went with it anyway. She closed her eyes and took a moment to translate the instruction into action. Surprisingly enough the dizziness seemed to fade rather quickly, well quicker than she expected it too anyway. 

"Hey, that actually works," Ukyou said cheerfully. She looked up to see Ryouga giving her that shy smile of his.

"I guess the chi exercises while on 'vacation' worked a little too," Ryouga said. "That only took an hour."

"An hour!?!" Ukyou face faulted.

"You have done well, my good Sasuke," Kuno smiled as he flipped through the pictures. "Finally, we have proof of the evil Saotome's mistreatment of the pig-tailed goddess."

"I assume this means that you two will cease lying low," Kuno turned to the feminine voice and raised an eyebrow. She stood in a corner, her face hidden in shadow.

"The great Tatewaki Kuno has no need to 'lie low'," the samurai insisted. "But we thank you for your aid in our surveillance of the evil Saotome."

"I'll send the chief your regards," the girl smiled. "And she'll send you her bill."

"Have no fear, once I recover my fortune, she shall be paid for her services!" the samurai struck a heroic pose. "Such is the word of Tatewaki Kuno the Blue Thunder! Come Sasuke! We must make plans!"

"As you wish master," the ninja bowed as he followed Kuno out of the warehouse. Behind them the girl stepped out of the shadows and smiled evilly. The light glinted off two horns emerging from her forehead. She was almost sorry to see him go, there were times that his "surveillance" had been quite pleasurable actually. Giving the lecherous samurai proof of how irresistable he was had certainly been easy enough. The collected evidence would certainly be of use later.

"This will show that bitch," the girl smiled. "I'm twice as smart as Sayuri and Yuka, hell, I'll bet I'm smarter than her." She sat down as that feeling of dizziness came over her again. That had been getting worse, much worse over the past week or so. One of her friends had said something about her looking pale too.

She ignored the feeling, again and stood up, grabbing the hat to hide her horns. She hadn't figured out where those had come from, they had come about the same time she had decided to show up Nabiki. All she really knew was that hiding them would be a necessity, that and staying out of the sight of Nabiki and any martial artist. As Kuno left for whatever it was he was planning to do, the girl walked, stumbling at times, away from the samurai's hiding place.

~I've almost used this one up.~ She stopped and looked about as she heard the voice. ~Too bad I was already kicked out of the samurai once.~

"Now I'm hearing things too," she shook it off. Looking up she saw some of her so-called "friends" eating lunch and gossiping. Probably about her, about how she was such a loser. Well soon they'd see what a loser she was. She nearly growled in pleasure at the thought. That's when things started darkening around her.

"Hey, look something's wrong with Mura!" One of the girls called out. The three of them stood up at once and rushed to where their friend was dropping, behind some bushes. They didn't notice the giggling beach ball leave her head and drift upward and away. "Somebody call a doctor!"

The oni floated on the air currents, looking for another ripe target. Not another one of those schoolgirls though. There had been two many close calls with getting discovered in that group. The next thing after he was discovered would be another round with Ranma Saotome and his companions. That had gone badly enough the first time, he didn't want a second time really.

~What do we have here?~ The oni stopped and hid in the folds of the tree watching a dark haired girl sparring with a bespectacled young man. It seemed more like a training session than a full out spar actually. The girl's style was on the verge of an artistic nature, usable if not overly efficient in full combat. That wasn't what attracted the oni's attention to her, however. ~She's completely open.~

The oni smiled, well smiled wider anyway, and considered the possibilities. A host that he didn't just direct, a host that he controlled! A host that had no way of fighting back against him. Most importantly, a host that it would be impossible to just kick him out of by hitting them. This was a wonderous discovery. He noted a flash of chi as she turned and then frowned, or at least adopted a less silly smile. Now all it had to do was get that amulet from around her throat.

~Well, I have a solution for that.~ He giggled madly as he drifted down and popped into Mousse's head as the two leaped past each other in an attempt to reposition. 

As usual with martial artists, and that damn schoolgirl for some reason, the oni found himself having to work to break into the young man's mind. It took a full second during which Mousse looked blankly into space and tried to locate the hostile spirit in his head. The oni found the martial artist's subconscious before the man's active defenses could find him and effect a real fight.

A low evil chuckle escaped Mousse as he turned to face Kodachi.

"Kodachi, did you know how beautiful you are," he asked. "I can hardly…"

*THWAP*

"I'm over here, Baka," Kodachi snapped angrily. Then she blinked as the giggling beach ball left Mousse's head and floated away. "What by the heavens is that?"

~Damn it, now he's an unusable choice as well.~ The oni snarled, though in its current state the sound came out a giggle. He had perhaps another day to get that "Kodachi" girl to take off that amulet, after that her chi flow would heal and she'd be like anybody else.

Mousse got back up in time to catch the silly image of the oni drifting away. He considered the evil thoughts that had just been running through his head, and a story he had heard about a possessed Kasumi. It did not take him long to figure out what had occurred. Then he remembered what Dr. Tofu said about the state of Kodachi's mental defenses, making her a ripe target.

"This is going to be fun," Mousse sighed.

"It would be convenient for someone to, inform me as to the nature of that…object" Kodachi noted. Mousse walked into his trailer and came out with a book apparently written in Chinese.

"That's a pretty neck…urk!" the oni floated out of the now unconscious bystander. Kodachi regarded the man under the training potty curiously.

"This demon dares to press a claim on my…" Kodachi looked at the amulet, losing her illusions hadn't done much to alter her mode of speech as it turned out. Meanwhile, she still had a headache, which was only manageable because said amulet kept her free-flowing thoughts under control. She was moderately irritated. "Hmm…this could cause complications."

"Are you certain you want to try this," Ranma asked as he piled up the wood.

"You're always saying I could use more speed," Akane responded.

"Hey!" the pouting Ranko shouted from the side. "You're teaching her the Amaguriken!"

"Yeah, so?" Ranma asked, eyeing the girl carefully. He had a suspicion about her.

"How do you know it!?!"

"Can you say anything quietly?" Akane asked. Ranko returned to pouting.

"Do you know the Amaguriken?" Ranma asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Well," Ranko sounded embarrassed, as if admitting to something she shouldn't know. "Yes…"

"How about the Baksai Tenketsu or the Hiryu Shoten Ha?" Ranko stared at him open mouthed.

"I've…seen them," she admitted. "How do you know about them?"

"He's mastered the Hiryu Shoten Ha," Akane explained, now similarly suspicious of the girl. Ranko's jaw dropped. "And a friend of ours uses the Baksai Tenketsu often enough, he's off somewhere teaching it to his girl friend right now." Ranko face faulted.

"Akane, would you mind sparring Ranko for a moment?" Ranma asked.

"Sure, why not," Akane shrugged.

"Why would I want to spar _her_," Ranko snapped, crossing her arms.

"Definitely a Saotome," Akane noted dryly.

"Huh?" both responded in confused chorus.

"Definitely." Ranma took a moment to work out whether that was an insult or not. Ranko decided to forgo working it out and just assumed it was.

"Okay, you want a fight? You got it!" She stood up and moved to the center of the vacant lot, Ranma beat her there.

"You're half-me right?" Ranma asked quietly noting Akane stalking up behind him nervously.

"So you keep saying," Ranko grumbled.

"Okay, then we're blood relations, and Akane's my fiancee," Ranma noted. "That makes her family to you as well…got it?" The flash of understanding behind Ranko's eyes had Ranma convinced of his suspicion, but he wanted further proof.

"Yeah, yeah, friendly match," Ranko grumbled.

"What are you two whispering about?"

"He's making sure I don't give you the Kiss of Death if by some miracle you happen to beat me."

"Ah ha!" Ranma and Akane pointed at the red head and then stared at each other, blinking.

"What did I say?"

Nabiki set down the phone and glowered at the wall. The information was sketchy, but it certainly explained a few things. Most glaring was just how Kuno had managed to stay hidden from her eyes all this time. He hadn't avoided her eyes, one of her eyes had turned blind for some reason or another. She wouldn't judge on that matter for the moment, considering Nerima there was always the chance of extenuating circumstances. Besides the girl's condition was critical, and, though her minions were unable to get any specific information, that indicated that she perhaps didn't hide the samurai out of choice. The only reason they knew Kuno was involved were some fevered mutterings from the girl before the ambulance arrived.

"Things are still out of control," she sighed, and picked up the phone again.

"Nekohanten, how may I help you?"

"Hello Cologne," Nabiki said. There was a long silence. "Is Kodachi or Mousse there?"

"This is the part-timer's day off, Tendo," Cologne answered warily.

"If you or Shampoo see them before I do, perhaps you could warn her that her brother is back," Nabiki requested tightly.

"Is that all you called for?"

~Hell no, I'm not about to let anything slip to anyone else.~ Nabiki thought. "Yes. I have no wish to be annoyed with another surprise from that psychotic. Ukyou was plenty."

"I see," Cologne didn't believe her, but that was to be expected. "I shall try to pass the message along." The line disconnected and Nabiki slowly set the phone back in the cradle. She didn't bother to call Ukyou and Ryouga, they were out of town, and out of reach. She had people looking for Kodachi already, both Kunos really, but she would consider herself very lucky if anyone saw Kuno before he made his move.

"Two hours until Shampoo's lunch," she noted irritably. "He'll have done something by then." She started to limp towards the door, Ranma and Akane were at the vacant lot with Ranko. It was on the way from where Mura had been found, and those were Kuno's three main targets. Chances were he'd show up there soon.

"Where are you going?" Nabiki released a sigh of frustration. She turned to face her older sister.

"Kuno's back," she answered simply. "I'm going off to tell Ranma and Akane."

"You are going to stay right here and get some rest," Nabiki did not need to here the phrase: ~Where I can keep an eye on you.~ It was perfectly obvious. "Why not ask one of your girlfriends to deliver the message?"

"Funny joke, sis…" 

"Joke?" Nabiki narrowed her eyes and then slumped. Nabiki turned back to face the door and walk toward it. "Nabiki, get back…"

"Talking now would be a bad idea," Nabiki whispered, before opening the door, and walking outside.

"Why did she get upset like that…" Kasumi blanched as she realized her earlier choice of words. "Oh my, that was certainly…thoughtless."

Ranko stared blankly up at the sky, trying to figure out what had just happened. The black-haired girl's moves were rather raw and easy to predict. Akane had a tendency toward doing maneuvers technique perfect, with very little blending. So it wasn't like she couldn't see her coming, the problem was that Akane was a lot faster and stronger than she had expected. A LOT faster and stronger. Finally, Ranko settled on attempting the Amaguriken to win, but Akane didn't show up where Ranko thought she'd show up. At least that's what she assumed happened, setting into the Amaguriken stance was the last thing she remembered before she found herself thrown against the fence.

Ranma meanwhile had been clinically watching the entire match. Mostly Ranko, Akane's fighting style he knew almost as well as he knew his own and Ryouga's. Superficially Ranko fought with the same style of fighting he did. On the other she kept breaking the loose stance and lazy-seeming motions with hard, direct straight-line motions. Standard, basic, amazon style, very basic. At the end she had dropped into the raw stance for the Amaguriken, which would have virtually screamed what was coming to anyone who'd lived in Nerima the past year or so.

"Should have noticed that right off," Ranma shook his head, it probably wouldn't take much work to fix the problem. Then again, this was probably a product of her mixed up memories, then the poorly combined styles could be very ingrained.

"Hey, I won!" Akane shouted, catching her breath. She must have gotten more out of the fight with Kurumi and Natsume than she had assumed, or, more likely, that recent fight with Ken.

"Don't get too cocky Akane," Ranma interrupted. "You still telegraph like anything, and you're fighting a girl with a memory that makes as much sense as a little kid's painting." Ranma looked back to the two girls in time to prepare for flight.

"BAKA!!" Ranma cringed as they chorused their displeasure.

"STOP!" They all turned to see Nabiki rushing over on her crutches.

"Uh…Nabiki," Akane started, confused. "What's the problem?"

"Kuno's been spotted," Nabiki explained quickly.

"This is getting very tiresome," Kodachi said as she thwapped the most recent possession victim. "Is that contraption of yours almost ready?" She shifted the unfortunate off to the pile of recoverees and prepared for the next one.

"Yes, I got it!" he shouted. He then brandished the box in his hands. "All we have to do is catch him coming out of the next victim and get him in this box."

"Will these charms work on a Shinto demon?" Kodachi wondered.

"It should," Mousse said doubtfully. Another formerly average person sporting horns appeared. "Use the ribbon!"

"Do you not believe that I can figure that out for myself?" Kodachi asked calmly as her ribbon whipped out and pulled in the oni-possessed person. "Why aren't you doing any of the fighting?"

"You need the work." Kodachi arched an eyebrow and rubbed her head, she couldn't wait for her chi flow to heal itself so all these memories and the accompanying headaches would leave. Well, she hoped the memories didn't leave, she just hoped they returned where they belonged. If they left again she'd be left with those…delusions.

"I want that necklace, it's so COOL!!!" the horned teenager declared.

"Ready?" Kodachi asked, Mousse nodded. The gymnast struck the other kid on the head and then waited for the oni to pop out. As it did, Mousse and Kodachi looked up, and up and up and a rather large, red monster. It looked sort of a like a brain with huge arms, stubby legs, big horns, and large bulging eyes. Oh yeah, teeth, lots of sharp, pointy, white teeth in a huge gaping mouth.

"Uh….not ready for that," Mousse swallowed.

"Now, I shall have that girl's body as a vessel for spreading chaos and evil, and you cannot stop me! Try and fight me if you will, it shall do you no good." Kodachi and Mousse blinked and used the Saotome school of anything goes final technique. The oni watched confused as the dust clouds departed. "Hey where do you think you're going!"

[The Amazon and the Moneylender Contents][1]

[Part 12][2]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/aatm.html
   [2]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/shamnabi12.html



	12. Nabiki the Sorceress. Shampoo vs Kuno

The Amazon and the Moneylender Part 12

"Shampoo," Cologne turned to her daughter as the younger amazon returned from a delivery. "Have you seen Mousse or the Kuno girl?"

"No great-grandma," Shampoo answered. "Why you ask?"

"Nabiki wished to pass a message on to Kodachi," Cologne said, watching her granddaughter's reaction.

"What message?" Shampoo asked tightly after a pause, and checking the clock.

"Apparently, Kodachi's brother has returned," Cologne said matter-of-factly. Shampoo breathed a sigh of relief and her mood brightened again. "The usurer seemed more like her normal self when she called."

"Nabiki was very happy this morning," Shampoo confirmed cheerfully, and with obvious relief. Then she hastily added, "Shampoo see her at breakfast!" Cologne narrowed her eyes as she made another order of ramen, which Shampoo promptly delivered to the proper table.

~I'll wait to confirm my suspicion before acting,~ Cologne thought to herself. ~Nabiki would be a valuable asset…if I could be certain she wouldn't interfere with the mission to win the son-in-law from her sister.~

"Shampoo take next delivery now," her grand-daughter declared before snatching said delivery and heading for her bike.

~A test might soon be in order.~

"What is that thing?" Mousse demanded as the buildings began to thin around them.

"You're the master of dark magic, don't you know an oni when you see one?" Kodachi asked.

"It's a Japanese demon, Koda," Mousse noted. "Why didn't you recognize it before?"

"They don't look like giggling beach balls in the plays," then Kodachi blinked. "Did you just call me 'Koda.'"

"Uhh..sorry," Mousse made a sheepish attempt at apology.

"FOOLISH MORTALS!" the thundering voice shouted behind them. "YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU'LL ONLY DIE TIRED!"

"Errr….Pay no mind, now is not the time to be concerned over such things," Kodachi declared. "What remains of our options?"

"Well demons are creatures of unbalanced chi," Mousse noted. "Can you do any chi tricks?"

"Of course I can do 'chi tricks,'" Kodachi hmphed. "Any martial artist worth the name has at least one 'chi trick' and the black rose of St. Hebereke IS worth the name!"

"Anything of significant power?" Mousse asked, noting that they were entering the woods outside Nerima.

"Define significant."

"Ranma or Ryouga." Kodachi glanced back at the pursuing oni, looked at Mousse, and arched an eyebrow.

"I do hope that was some attempt at humor and not a serious inquiry."

"Didn't think so," Mousse said. "What do you know about this forest?"

"Really, a lady like me, wandering around a wilderness like this one."

"HAHAHAHAHA!!!! I'LL PLAY WITH YOUR SOUL THROUGH ETERNITY LITTLE GIRL!! GIVE UP NOW AND YOU I MIGHT JUST TAKE YOUR BODY!"

"Hentai!" Kodachi stopped and turned to give a piece of her mind to the pursuing demon. "Why I would ever want…Unhand me!" The last was directed at Mousse who had returned to snatch her up before running on.

"He's talking about possessing you, Kodachi, not sleeping with you."

"Oh, that's all right then."

"Is that a body of water of there?" Kodachi looked about, finding it difficult to know which direction Mousse was talking about considering his hands were occupied in carrying her. Though she did see a shimmer of reflected sunlight.

"It's a satellite dish on some cabin," she said dryly.

"What's that in front of us?" Kodachi looked in that direction as Mousse ran between the trees, out into mid air.

"It appears to be a cliffside," Kodachi said unnecessarily, as ribbon and chain extended to find holds, swinging the two martial artists safely to the ground below. They had managed to find a gully with a fairly wide stream running through it.

"This is what I was looking for!" Mousse shouted cheerfully.

"Might I ask why?" Kodachi demanded. 

They both looked up as the oni appeared on the cliff above them, still laughing at their efforts.

"Just run upstream!" Mousse shouted as the oni slowly began to float down to meet them.

"Running anywhere seems to be nothing more than a delaying tactic," Kodachi noted before taking off a little before Mousse.

Ranma and Akane instantly turned their attention to Nabiki, who was looking for a place to sit that would be relatively easy to get up from. The one thing Akane noticed right off was that Nabiki was mad. The signs were slight and unnoticeable to anyone that hadn't lived with her for most of their lives, but they were there.

"Where is he, Nabiki?" Ranma demanded.

"Who's Kuno?" Ranko asked.

"I haven't the faintest," Nabiki said, irritably as she spotted an old chair and sat down. "One of my friends had an encounter with him, there isn't much more information than that since she was only barely conscious when found." The girl took a stick and idly began drawing kanji in the dirt.

"When did that happen?" Akane demanded. Nabiki paused in her bored doodling and checked her watch.

"Who's Kuno?"

"About fifteen minutes ago," she said, before returning to her doodling. She leaned over, narrowed her eyes and then smoothed out the dirt again, before drawing more kanji. "He'll have to pass by here on the way to the dojo."

"Who? Is. Kuno."

"He's beating up on regular kids now?" Ranma blinked, then shook his head. Nabiki arched an eyebrow as she regarded him, pausing in her drawing.

"You can't really be surprised, can you?"

"Does Kodachi know about this?" Akane asked. Nabiki shrugged, irritably smoothing out the dirt again.

"She is being sought," Nabiki assured them as she stuck the stick again into the dirt and started drawing.

"WHO?! IS! KUNO!!!" The other three stared blankly at the huffing Ranko.

"Impatient aren't we?" Nabiki asked.

"Ah, tis a piteous sight, that the fair pig-tailed goddess is so deep in the clutches of the evil Ranma's spells that the memory of my manliness has been driven from her lovely head." The glares leveled at Kuno left no doubt as to each individual's oh so low opinions of the would-be samurai. Only Ranko was limited to expression of irritation. "And you even turn your brutish attentions towards the defenseless…" Before he could complete the thought, his eternal nemesis was moving in a blur towards him.

"Do you ever shut up!" Ranma shouted as his fist buried itself into Kuno's abdomen, another flash of movement and a knee slammed into Kuno's face. Ranma failed to notice, as he prepared for another attack, the small dark-clothed figure appearing from the bushes. The other three weren't quite so distracted.

"Hey, Saotome!" Nabiki shouted. "Look out behind you!" Akane and Ranko moved almost at the same-time, moving to intercept Sasuke.

"Oh no, you don't!" Akane shouted. Ranko wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew that little rat was about to interfere with the fight, and THAT she was sure was unacceptable.

"I'll save you master!" Sasuke cried, leaping towards the embattled martial artists. Nabiki saw him draw a packet from inside his night suit, and jerked to her feet, forgetting her sprained ankle and falling. Then several things happened, Ranma propelled Kuno against a wall with what appeared to be barely a motion. Akane and Ranko collided with Sasuke, who ripped open the packet in his hands. 

Nabiki worked up to her feet as the dust cloud encompassed four of the five combatants. As the dust cleared, and Kuno pulled himself to his feet, Nabiki looked to her sister and the Saotome's. All three, and the toad-like ninja, were suffering from the effects of what appeared to be one of Kodachi's paralysis powders.

"Could you have found a more humid gully to trap us in?" Kodachi demanded, wiping away another sheen of sweat.

"That would have been nice," Mousse said, Kodachi blinked. "But this is the only one I know about."

"DO YOU THINK THIS WILL SAVE YOU MORTALS?" The oni shouted behind them. "THIS IS NOTHING." Kodachi looked behind her confused. The oni sounded as loud as ever, but now it sounded like it was tiring.

"The steam does something to that monster?"

"Well if it were a Yang demon it wouldn't bother to try to possess any body and would just be going around burning things."

"Excuse my confusion, but what does that have to do with why the oni started getting tired as we hit the steam?" Mousse smiled, but she couldn't see that.

"Yin demon, Yang chi flow." Kodachi arched an eyebrow. "Hey, what's that in front of us?"

"I can see naught but an ever thickening cloud of steam," Kodachi answered, shortly before tripping over a tree root and landing in pool of hot water. She quickly set her feet down on the bottom of the pool and launched upward through the water. She landed on the bank of the pool, facing a sheer rock wall.

"Hey Kodachi, how'd you get so wet?"

"If we survive remind me to introduce you to Mr. Turtle." Mousse swallowed at the mention of an introduction to Kodachi's alligator.

"Come, mortals," the oni called from beyond the veil of the steam mists. "Come and meet your dooms, show me a little bravery and I'll make your deaths quick."

"Afraid to come after us puny mortals?" Mousse asked, Kodachi stared at him in open shock. The oni growled in irritation. The oni considered the waves of yang chi that whipped to and fro among the steam and hot-springs of the cul de sac he had cornered them in, and it considered the prize it sought.

"Can you hold me off long enough mortals?" the oni smiled hideously. It stepped forward into the mists, a discordant aura surrounded the beast as it appeared through the mists

"Are you ready?" Mousse asked. Kodachi chuckled and brandished her ribbon.

"Ah, my faithful Sasuke," Kuno shook his head disapprovingly. "I applaud your bravery, but you should not have interfered with my honorable battle with the vile Saotome. Now, I must sully my victory with the defeat of a helpless foe." He walked towards Ranma, practically ignoring Nabiki, and lifted his bokken to strike.

"Hold it Kuno-baby," Nabiki snapped, Kuno regarded her curiously. She smirked, ruthlessly burying the urge to try a more physically active defense of her family. She'd already been shown quiet well that physical confrontation was not her strong point. "You don't want to do that."

"And why pray-tell, is that?" Kuno demanded. "If I destroy Saotome here and now, then the evil magic is gone and Akane and the pig-tailed goddess will once again recognize me as their one true love."

"You don't know much about magic," Nabiki noted. "Killing Ranma now would be a tremendous mistake."

"I fail to see why I should wait," Kuno noted. "But shall listen for the moment, obviously you know much about these matters of the mystical arts. I have seen your prowess already in the summoning of that sweet nymph who has sheltered me all this time." He took a moment to preen.

"I assume you mean Mura?" Nabiki narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, such a lovely creature, poor spirit could not restrain herself in my great presence," Tatewaki laughed arrogantly. Nabiki noted that it was the second time that he had referred to Mura as a spirit. "But enough of her, why should I restrain myself from killing the foul sorcerer this very moment."

"Think about it Kuno," Nabiki said, watching him closely. "Ranma knows you seek to defeat him and break the spell, so of course he must have altered the spell. Defeat him and your loves will only hate you ten fold more than they do already." She edged closer to the paralyzed combatants, as Kuno seemed to considered her words.

"Ah, such a vile knave is Saotome," he declared, relaxing his bokken. "To chain my loves even to beyond his death. How then shall I defeat his black magic?"

~Kuno, you're dead,~ Ranma thought as he glared up at the swordsman.

~I hate being paralyzed,~ Ranko was stuck glaring at the ninja, who was watching her nervously.

~Keep him talking Nabiki,~ Akane thought. ~Damn this is uncomfortable.~

"You'll have to get that from him," Nabiki laughed. "But he can't talk now, can he, so you'll have to wait for the powder to wear off."

"Yes, and then I can have my honorable duel with the evil Saotome," Kuno's eyes glazed over. "I can repay him for enspelling my loves and turning my own sister against me and not stain my honor, and then I shall discuss matters with his apprentice, Hibiki."

~Ryouga wouldn't stop at hospitalizing you if you managed it,~ Nabiki thought. "Exactly."

"Fine than I shall lay a formal challenge before you Saotome," Kuno looked down at him. "Come the strike of noon a week from now you shall lie groveling at my feet here in the dirt, and to ensure that you can practice no evils upon them I shall bring Akane and the…"

"NO!" Nabiki snapped, then cursed under her breath. ~Damn it, that was a mistake.~

"Why should I not shelter my loves from the vile Saotome's influences?" he asked narrowly, Nabiki could almost see the paranoid fancies working through his mind.

"I can protect them," Nabiki insisted. "This is magic we're talking about, will you cut the spell with your sword?" This was coming quite a bit too close to certain truths for comfort, but she had to play along with Kuno's madness for now. She doubted anybody would think she really knew what she was talking about afterword.

"You are obviously incapable of defending them," Kuno noted, indicating her injured foot. "If you wish then you can come with us and bend your mystical arts toward a cure."

~I'll be damned if any of us go with you,~ Nabiki declared inwardly. "If you take us to your house then Ranma can have you arrested for kidnapping, do wish that?"

"It is no matter, when the authorities hear the truth they shall bend their forces to aid me in defeating the dark one," Kuno declared. "And I will have your testimony at my side, unless perhaps you do not wish to see your sister and the pig-tailed one freed."

"I don't wish to have our honors impugned by the whispers that would travel should we stay with you," Nabiki corrected, taking a cautious step back. She was losing him, and she knew it, but if she stalled than maybe the paralysis would wear off. The last was an empty hope, if they had raided Kodachi's supplies than the powder would last much longer than she had.

"Woman! How dare you imply that Tatewaki Kuno would sink to the level of common banditry!?" he brandished his bokken in anger, and Nabiki sweatdropped. She should have kept up the art, she could think of several things within her power that would be useful at the moment. The problem was that the quickest of the lot would take time that she didn't have. Contrary to popular belief there was no such thing as a combat spell, such chi manipulations were the province of martial artists.

"I didn't say you would Kuno," she insisted calmly. "I suggested that there would gossip."

"Silence! No one could suggest such a thing about the Blue Thunder who was not a black hearted scoundrel!" Nabiki saw him tense and braced for the attack, she closed her eyes as the sound of a bicycle bell rang through the scene. 

*CRASH*

"Umph!" Nabiki cracked open her eyes to stare at Shampoo riding her bicycle atop a flattened Kuno. 

The oni lunged forward at Kodachi, growling as the girl dodged out of the way. A flurry of stings in its side were the oni's first warning of the chi-charged throwing knives. The chi in the blades left gaps that the yang chi of the steam drove forward in an attempt to balance the unnatural yin of the demon. The oni took a moment from its pursuit of the girl to charge the hidden weapons expert. Mousse ducked under the huge fist that drove into the rock.

"OH-hahahahahahahaha!!!" The laugh hadn't changed, Mousse noted as Kodachi's ribbon slashed at the demon. It seemed that her 'chi trick' was basically the same as his own. A basic trick of any weapon's centered martial artist, connected the weapon to your chi so that it becomes a living part of you. "You have made a very final error, demon."

"I shall not be defeated by a pair of mortals!" The oni kicked at the rolling Mousse, propelling the Chinese martial artist into the rock wall. That would stun the boy long enough, he assumed, turning his attention back to his true target.

Kodachi found it easy to dodge the pain-wracked oni's attempts to grab her. If it had been intent on killing her, on the other hand, she thought it might have been a different story. Unfortunately, she was too close to use her ribbon, and she had quite a while ago lost her other weapons.

"No more laughter girl?" the oni chuckled, despite the shimmering waves of darkness she could see bleeding off of it. The oni's presence made the chi flow of the place successively more and more visible as the natural yang fought the beast.

"No more shouting fiend?" Kodachi smirked, rolling under the beast and leaping away, slashing out again with her chi charged ribbon. New streams of darkness leaked out and was destroyed by the surrounding Yang. 

The demon roared, charging forward, forgetting, in its rage that it wanted Kodachi's body for a host. Thick talons slashed across her side as she swung around the beast's right. Kodachi landed roughly, recovering her balance from the impact, on the edge of the hot-spring's main pool. The glowing pool, she noted with a viciousness that the Nerima crew was well acquainted with, but which most demons only associated with their own kind.

"Mousse what would about the water?" she shouted, noticing that the hidden weapons expert was standing up and ready to fight again.

"That fool mortal can't help you now, girl," the oni smiled. "I'm weakened, but I'm more than enough for the two of you." Kodachi watched as the oni made its way carefully around the pool, moving slowly to torture her. She recognized the tactics. 

Kodachi stood up, apparently without pain. Not that there was no pain, but the process of pain messages tended to take the following route. Injury reported to mind, mind files it away to check later, mind instructs body to continue what it was doing. The oni noted this action and paused in its approach. Long enough for Mousse to make a re-entry into the fight, slashing across the front of the beast with a clawed glove.

"We're not going to get it in the water," Mousse shouted. "So just keep hitting it!" Mousse dodged the oni's counterattack and then slashed again. 

Kodachi took long enough to notice that Mousse was doing better than she had been when the thing had been just trying to catch her. He could hold it off long enough for what she had in mind. Heedless of injury and fatigue the gymnast dived back into the water of the main pool. Swimming along the bottom she narrowed her eyes and smirked as she found the source of the hot spring.

"The girl is hiding in the pool, mortal," the oni smiled. "And she'll probably bleed death waiting for the yang flow to kill me after I finish with you. Then I'll just return to what I've been doing for centuries, such a pity to miss the opportunity she presented, but I offered you a chance."

"Don't be so confidant," Mousse snickered. "You are a minor spirit compared to some of the things I've seen." The boy tossed a series of eggs in the demons face as he dodged another attack. The natural chi of the resulting explosions gave the demon only minimal pain, but the smoke did aid the steam in obscuring Mousse's motion for a moment. "I've seen a mortal tear a god limb from limb!"

The oni growled as Mousse whipped around behind him slashing down with his claw again. The oni whipped around, catching the martial artist on his landing. Mousse's claw blocked the talons, but shattered under the strain and still propelled Mousse against the cliff wall.

"But you are not Ranma Saotome," the oni smiled as Mousse stood up again. No room to leap, no room to dodge, a large demon that had been getting slashed for the past five minutes without much visible sign of fatigue, his glasses were shattered and Kodachi still hadn't come up from underwater. 

Mousse was preparing for a last charge in at the oni when the rumbling started. The oni lashed at in the moment Mousse hesitated at the new factor. Mousse felt ribs cracking as he was crushed against the wall, the oni's talons pressed in as the rumbling grew. The oni was preparing to rip the martial artist in two when the hot spring erupted into a geyser. The cul de sac was bombarded in Yang energies, made visible by the demon's unwelcome presence.

"Oh-hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!" In the flash of chi neither Mousse nor the oni could see Kodachi, but the source of the geyser was quite obvious by the laugh. The oni wasn't in much of a condition to sense anything, the darkness of its essence was thoroughly and utterly destroyed giving one final wordless cry of disbelief. As the demon was obliterated the natural chi faded again into invisibility. "It did not understand whom it was facing."

"Kodachi….are you okay?" Mousse asked, the gymnast smiled and virtually bounced her way to where Mousse was leaning against the wall.

"You don't think I'd let such a disgusting beast touch me, do you?" she asked, sitting down next to him.

"That's good…"Mousse smiled, trying to pull a breath through cracked ribs and leaning his head back. Kodachi leaned her head against his shoulder and relaxed.

Nabiki relaxed, slightly, Kuno had given Ryouga a run for his money. Mousse had beaten him easily, but that was while Kuno was still injured. Shampoo could beat Kuno, but it was by no means a certain victory.

"Stick-boy dead!" Shampoo shouted angrily to the body under her bike. The swordsman lifted himself up throwing the bike and rider off as he did. Shampoo flipped off the vehicle and landed between him and Nabiki before lashing out with kick at the distracted Kuno. The samurai barely dodged, moving to Shampoo's side and trying to regain his balance for an attack.

~For once I'm glad she's here,~ Akane noted to herself. ~What's Nabiki doing?~

Nabiki dropped her crutches and hopped to the where the bike had felled Kuno. She dropped herself to the ground and picked up a piece of dark blue cloth. Quickly smoothing out the dirt she placed the cloth down and drew a series of circles and kanji about it.

~If Akane can beat Ken, Shampoo can beat Kuno easy,~ she told herself as she continued. ~But then Kuno won't make the same mistake Ken did, and he gave Ryouga a good run.~

"Ah yes, another of the girls that the evil Ranma has under his vile control," Kuno shook his head sadly. "Be warned fair maiden, that I am…" he had to cut his speech short in order to counter Shampoo's flurry of attacks. He shifted forward, jabbing into her stomach with the hilt of his blade. 

Shampoo lurched back, grunting with pain while recovering her balance, she had expected something more lethal from the would-be samurai. He wasn't as dumb as he seemed if he could tell she would have taken his head in such an attempt. Kuno glanced back at Nabiki and glared. Shampoo was surprised as he suddenly lost interest in her and charged Nabiki again. She recovered quickly enough and leaped into the air, passing over Kuno.

~Kamisama, I hope that I remember how to do this,~ she muttered, positioning her hands hesitantly. ~No doubts girl!~

"Witch!! You dare cast a spell upon the great Tatewaki Kuno," he pulled up short when the amazon appeared to fill his vision again. Shampoo swung her foot around in a roundhouse as she landed between her new lover and the psycho swordsman. Kuno, off-balance took the blow full and flew out across the lot, this time managing to control the flight and land relatively safely. "You are a tremendous warrior, for a gaijin." Shampoo was already on the way to where he landed.

"You no hurt Nabiki!" Shampoo shouted. Nabiki glanced nervously at her the paralyzed martial artists before finishing her drawing. She couldn't be distracted right now, Shampoo had the advantage for the moment, but Kuno had space and time to recover now.

~She's protecting Nabiki?~ Ranma and Akane were confused.

~What's going on now?~ Ranko whined internally, glaring at the ninja.

~She's going to rip me to pieces when this wears off,~ Sasuke would of swallowed nervously if he could have done more than breathe.

"Very well, since you leave me no choice," Kuno lashed forward with a succession of high speed strikes as Shampoo was still apparently out of reach. Shampoo hadn't ever actually faced Kuno in combat, so she was surprised when something seemed to strike her. The impact sent the amazon off balance, a situation that was worsened as more air waves struck and threw her to the ground. 

"My apologies brave one, but so must all who face the great Tatewaki Kuno fare." He noticed Shampoo's battle aura flaring though, and something in his brain that faintly resembled logic realized that Shampoo was merely stunned. Then of course there was the matter of the Tendo witch. "By the kami the devious Nabiki is still casting her sorcery upon me!"

The girl in question seemed to be meditating, holding an almost unmoving position and staring at Kuno. Behind he could hear the sound of rushing air as the amazon again took to the air. Kuno twisted about in a spin, thrusting up with his sword, sending a senpou ken whirlwind Shampoo's way. 

~That should stall her long enough,~ he decided. "Oh that I should be forced to harm such valiant woman. These sorcerers shall pay for their misdeeds!!!"

Kuno turned around to see Nabiki thrust her hand into the dark cloth at the center of her drawings. Kuno couldn't see chi flows, but he could see the ground explode in front of his target. When the shower of dust cleared the apprentice, Hibiki, was kneeling before him, laughing sinisterly.

"So do you want a real fight or do you just pick on girls?"

"At last I see the truth," Kuno growled. "The lowly Ryouga is but a servitor demon of the virtuous Akane's vile sister. Well then, fiend, I shall accept your challenge." Kuno lunged at Ryouga snarling as the other martial artist dodged to the side. He struck out again, chasing the backpedaling, smirking Hibiki, never noticing that he was being drawn away.

"Shampoo?" Nabiki called out as Kuno ran further and further away. A moment passed as Kuno vanished around a corner, chasing a figment of his imagination, and Nabiki heard the unmistakable sound of an amazon angrily extricating herself from a pile of discarded furniture. She released her breath in relief.

~Where's Nabiki?~ Shampoo scanned, about and about and about. ~Good, there she is. Damn whirlwind, mental note: be careful jumping around stick-boy.~

"You had me worried, Kitty," Nabiki said as Shampoo walked, wobbly at first but recovering her grace quickly. She cautiously kneeled down next to Nabiki, still watching for Kuno.

"You okay?" Shampoo asked quietly.

~What's going on here?~ Akane asked herself.

"Am I okay?" Nabiki said in disbelief, as Shampoo methodically examined her for any new injuries. "What about you? You're bleeding!" She took the amazon's head in her hands, and gently brushed aside the blue hair were it was being stained red.

"Just a scratch," Shampoo assured her cheerfully, but she let Nabiki examine it anyway. "See? Scratch head on broken mirror."

"And everything else?" Nabiki asked, doubtful. Shampoo smiled cheerfully, with the adrenaline leaking away everything hurt like hell, but it was nothing too serious by her standards.

"Is fine," Shampoo assured her, then gritted her teeth as Nabiki poked her shoulder.

"Really?" Nabiki noted wryly, then remembered certain other parties. "We should get some help, soon, Dr. Tofu's is right over there!!!!" Nabiki gripped strongly about Shampoo's neck as the amazon picked her up off the ground and ran for the clinic. "What about my sister and Ranma?"

"Kuno coming back?" Shampoo asked.

"Not for several minutes." Akane and Ranma meanwhile were left to consider things.

"Plenty of time!" She declared cheerfully.

~She didn't glomp me,~ Ranma noted. ~Which is too bad because that might have cured Akane.~

~That was weird,~ Akane thought. ~She was really fussing over Nabiki.~

~What's going on here?~

~Dead ninja! DEAD ninja!~

~MASTER KUNO HELP ME!!~

"Okay are you ready to…" Ryouga looked away as the chi flash erupted perhaps a mile away. He grabbed his umbrella and his backpack.

"What are you bringing that for?" Ukyou asked as she snatched her spatula and the two of them made for the flash.

"First aid kit," Ryouga answered simply. Of course, Ryouga's idea of a first aid kit would have made some paramedics drool with envy. That is, if they had any training in holistic medicines. Ryouga might not have compared with Dr. Tofu, Cologne or even Kasumi, but he believed in being prepared.

"Oh, herb garden in bag?" the commentary passed over Ryouga's head. Ukyou took the lead, for the usual obvious reason. As the chi flash faded their goal was revealed as a rapidly dwindling geyser.

"Hey, I know that place!" Ryouga shouted, moving faster. The spatula smacked into his head as he tried to pass.

"Don't try it lost boy, that pharmacy of yours won't help in Brazil." Ryouga laughed and sweatdropped as he fell back into line behind Ukyou. Moving with the average speed of Neriman martial artists heading for a possible fight, they managed the distance in about a minute, long enough for the geyser to dwindle away to nothing.

"Hey, anybody down there?" Ryouga called down into the thick pool of mist. There was no answer, and neither waited long for one. It took very little time to find Mousse and Kodachi passed out against the rock, looking as if they had taken on a horde of bears. If it had been one or two bears then they probably wouldn't have had trouble.

"She's still alive," Ukyou declared, checking Kodachi's pulse.

"They both are," Ryouga confirmed as he dug through his pack, looking for his medicinal materials. "One of us needs to go to a phone for help."

"I'm gone," Ukyou said. "Just don't try to go anywhere."

"Cease your cowardly retreat fiend!" Kuno demanded as slashed again at the dodging Ryouga-illusion. He failed to notice all the people watching him strangely as he seemed to be flailing against thin air.

"Come on Kuno, you have to save your loves don't you?" The samurai slashed again, and finally managed to connect, or he would have connected. The lack of anything to connect with sort of ruined that possibility.

"What is this?" he demanded. "Ah ha, further proof of the fiend's true nature. It is obvious that he cannot remain long in this world without his mistress's power to sustain him. All this time I have been a pawn in the battle of these two demonic servants. Well, that shall continue no longer. As of this moment I vow to continue in my quest to free my loves and Nerima itself from grips of these vile villains." He scanned the street about him, and the people staring at him.

"Ah they are terrified of the fiend that I did battle with and now, of course, the gaze in awe upon the majesty of Tatewaki Kuno. Yet I know not these buildings, where has the sorceress' servant led me?" The sound of approaching police cars attracted his attention. "Perhaps the witch has followed through on her threat to call the authorities down upon me, best not to engage. Some innocents escape not the thunderbolt, but if there is no need for the thunderbolt…" Kuno faded into an alley and made for the rooftops, he did not usually partake of the martial artist's highway. For the moment, however, he would take an exception.

"Hey thanks doc," Ranma declared as the paralysis flowed away from his body. 

"It is certainly no problem," Tofu smiled. "After the last few years mixing the antidotes to Kodachi's powders has become almost second nature."

"Well at least SHE isn't tossing them around right now," Ranma hmphed. "What happened to Kuno anyway?"

"I don't know," Akane said flexing to make sure everything still worked. "The freak was charging Nabiki when he suddenly just ran off yelling about Ryouga being Nabiki's demon servant."

"Yeah, I was wondering about that," Ranma noted. "But knowing Kuno he probably just took another dive off the deep end and imagined the whole thing." 

"Okay, Kuno I won't bother trying to explain," Akane put in. "But am I the only that noticed Nabiki and Shampoo acting kind of weird." 

"You ask them yourself, they're on the other bed behind you," Dr. Tofu said as he moved on to Ranko. Akane sweatdropped as she turned around to face an annoyed looking pair of girls. 

"Define 'weird' sis," Nabiki said levelly. She was hardly in a mood for more of this.

Nabiki had called around for reports while Shampoo and Tofu were relaying paralyzed fighters to the clinic. Apparently a rather large monster had chased Kodachi and Mousse out of town, only a few minutes ago. That was the last anybody had seen of them. That was moderately disturbing news.

Kuno had also managed to disappear, again. He had chased her illusion out of the Nerima district where her minions had only minimal safety and she had to rely on less trustworthy means of acquiring information. The police were now after him as well, for property damage and public endangerment it sounded like. Nabiki hoped they wouldn't actually try to capture him themselves, that would be a disaster.

"You know, like flirting and stuff," Ranma said in his normal subtle fashion. A stream of violent Chinese filled the air as Ranko felt herself again in control of her body. 

"Miss Ranko, that is hardly appropriate language," Dr. Tofu lectured.

"Is too appropriate language," Shampoo argued. "Stick-boy and toad-ninja need die very painful deaths!"

"Very painful," Akane agreed, then started to turn back to her sister and the amazon. They were sitting awfully close, really close.

"Wait, how water girl know amazon dialect?" whispered more to herself than anyone else.

~Ahh, confirmation,~ Nabiki smirked and crossed her arms, chuckling quietly to herself. The other people in the room glanced at her nervously, Nabiki laughing like that was rarely a good sign.

[The Amazon and the Moneylender Contents][1]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/lycanskord/aatm.html



	13. No Title Yet....Still a Draft....Comment...

The Amazon and the Moneylender Part 13

Ukyou glanced back to make sure that Ryouga was staying put like she'd asked. Since arriving at the hospital with Mousse and Kodachi neither had been given much rest, she'd only just now found the space and time she needed to get to a phone and call the rest of the Tendo dojo. Ukyou sighed as she recalled the events since they had arrived at the hospital.

In the hour they had been stuck here, the police had questioned them, and accused them of a variety of things. Their first thought was that Ukyou and Ryouga had gotten in a fight with Mousse and Kodachi that had gotten out of hand, the doctors killed that one. The hospital explained that the injuries the pair had sustained seemed more like some sort of animal. Then things got REALLY crazy.

A suggestion that Mousse and Kodachi had been fighting a demon, and then a cry of "hey careful with that or it'll just make you go all loopy," convinced the police to confiscate Ryouga's first aid kit. At about the same time someone managed to get an abridged version of the baksai tenketsu training from Ukyou before she realized what she was saying. This resulted in about a thirty second attempt to capture Ryouga, which he barely noticed. This had ended after Ukyou had picked up a flattened bullet and turned to the cop that had been talking to her and said, "that's why I'm training in the baksai tenketsu."

"Tendo dojo, how may I help you?" Kasumi's voice sounded a little strained.

"Kasumi?" Ukyou ignored the fact that the elder Tendo was having some sort of problem of her own. If she got bogged down in that then it would take a while to get Mousse and Kodachi's situation out. "I'm at the hospital."

"Oh! Are you and Ryouga okay?"

"We're fine, its Kodachi and Mousse…" Ukyou said. "They got in a fight with something, they're still unconscious so we don't know what yet."

"Oh! Was it Kuno?" Kasumi asked. "Nabiki said he was around."

"Kuno?" Ukyou almost drapped the phone. "Kuno's back?"

"Nabiki said that, are you okay?"

"Uh, yes," Ukyou said. "No it wasn't Kuno, that idiot doesn't cause the same type of injuries. Ryo-chan thinks it was a demon, if you can believe that."

"Oh my," Kasumi said. "I'll try to tell everybody else, but I'm not certain where they are at the moment. Would you and Ryouga mind staying there at least until one of us arrives, oh what is the hospital?"

"Hey, that's no problem, sugar," Ukyou said before giving Kasumi the hospital's name. She clicked the phone down and walked over to Ryouga. "Any word on the lunatics?"

"Not yet, are you okay?" he asked, noticing her expression as she approached.

"Kuno's back," she said, quietly, sitting next to him. Ryouga looked at her cautiously. Ukyou remembered that fight, she had been panicking and flailing about stupidly. She was worried about being groped, and let the thought distract her. As a result, Kuno had beaten her, badly. Kuno, the joke, the idiot that was always heading somewhere via air-Ranma or Akane. The would-be samurai had beaten her. The fact that she couldn't even touch him after the jerk chose to fight all out didn't help matters.

"Are you going to try and fight him?" Ryouga asked seriously. She looked at him and smiled slightly.

"Not if I can help it," she said. "Not before I finish the baksai tenketsu at any rate." Ryouga kept his thoughts on the matter silent, he REALLY didn't want to make a scene just at the moment. Later, when they returned to camp maybe. "I wish one of these doctors would tell us something."

*************************** 

"What so funny?" Shampoo asked nervously as Nabiki quieted. The moneylender turned to face her, radiantly cheerful.

"She's an Amazon!" Nabiki said suddenly. Shampoo looked at her confused.

"How can magical girl be Amazon, she not even born."

"I was born," Ranko muttered angrily, though no one heard her.

"You didn't know that?" Ranma blinked and looked at Akane, who had the same expression.

"We figured something out before Nabiki?"

"Oh I suspected it," Nabiki waved off the comment, trying to salvage some pride. "But I have enough on my mind at the moment without having to prove that."

"I don't get how magical girl be Amazon," Shampoo repeated.

"Perhaps if the girl that drowned in the pool was an Amazon," Dr. Tofu suggested.

"Hello!! I am sitting right here!" Everybody turned to look at Ranko and blinked. She hmphed and crossed her arms. "Jerks."

"If girl drowned in pool Amazon," Shampoo said. "Then anybody who fall in Amazon?"

"Hey wouldn't that mean that the outsider laws don't apply to Ranma?" Akane asked suddenly. "After all he's been walking around with an Amazon life force this entire time."

"Shampoo ask great-grandma," the Amazon said slowly. "After take Nabiki home, and put in BED." She emphasized the last word strongly, giving a Nabiki a reproachful look. Dr. Tofu, Ranko, Ranma and Akane looked on rather confused.

"We were going to…"

"Shampoo stop by for lunch, Nabiki stay bed and HEAL," Shampoo whispered something and Nabiki laughed, actually blushing.

"You're doing it again," Akane said dangerously. Shampoo and Nabiki suddenly turned serious and faced the other people in the clinic. 

"Doing what?" Nabiki asked quietly. Any reply was cut off as Kasumi's voice was heard from the lobby. Ranma and Akane dragged Ranko away from Dr. Tofu while Shampoo carried Nabiki to the far side of the room. Ranma left the room quietly and then returned with a still paralyzed Sasuke. He smirked viciously as he set the ninja on the examination table

"Ka-ka-Kasumi, what a surprise to meet you here of all places…" he stammered. The Doctor reached for something to occupy his hands and found Sasuke. "Is that you Nabiki? You really should keep better care of your skin." Sasuke couldn't scream as his neck was twisted, he could however see the very vicious smirks he was getting from the martial artists backed against the wall.

"You work here Doctor," Kasumi noted. She looked and saw everybody standing away from Tofu. "Oh good, you're all here." Akane and Nabiki noticed the slight sarcasm on the word all, though people who hadn't lived a life time with Kasumi probably would have missed it. "Ukyou just called the dojo, there appears to have been an incident of some kind."

"An incident," Dr. Tofu asked. "Give me a moment to check Nabiki's foot here." His next treatment resulted in mass wincing and chuckling from the martial artists.

"No, this cannot wait," Kasumi said. "Apparently Ryouga and Ukyou had to bring Kodachi and Mousse to the hospital. They had been in a battle of some kind."

"What?!?" Ranma and Akane snapped.

"I told them that somebody would be by, considering that Kodachi lives with…"

"We're on our way," Ranma said, heading out the door.

"Hey Baka, we don't know the hospital!" Akane shouted, following after him.

"Oh my," Kasumi turned to Ranko. "Would you catch up and tell them where to go?"

"Uh…" Ranko blinked and tried to come up with a reason she couldn't do that, but she seriously did not want to disappoint this girl. "Sure, what's the hospital?"

"Don't worry about Nabiki," Kasumi said sweetly. "I'll see her home."

"Hey maybe betty-chan can go with you!" Dr. Tofu suggested. "I'll ask her in a moment."

"Shampoo help Nabiki home too," the Amazon said as she carried Nabiki out of the room from the crazy doctor.

"You shouldn't volunteer other people like that Ukyou," Dr. Tofu lectured.

"How come he thinks I spatula-girl," Shampoo asked herself.

"Don't worry about it Doctor," Nabiki called as she and Shampoo left the room. "See you later."

"My family is very lucky to have such a kind man as yourself as a doctor," Kasumi said, bowing as she left. "I hope to see you again under calmer circumstances." She added the last with a serene smile and a demure wave.

"Oh Betty-Chan, she said I'm a kind man," and Dr. Tofu danced through a wall holding his skeleton. Left to himself was the still paralyzed ninja, ingenuously reshaped into a something a cat would think of as impossible.

*****************************

"I am quite capable of taking my sister home, Shampoo," Kasumi said calmly. "And I believe that you have work." Nabiki ignored her sister, as far as she was concerned, Kasumi's thoughts were clear.

"Want to make sure Nabiki go to bed," Shampoo hmphed.

"We do agree on that, at least," Kasumi noted. She wanted to apologize to Nabiki for her earlier words, but not with Shampoo there. Even if she didn't altogether trust Shampoo, the amazon provided to easy an out for Nabiki to ignore her. "And just how did you all end up at Dr. Tofu's clinic?"

"Kuno," Nabiki said simply. "That ninja ended up catching everybody but me and Kuno in a cloud of paralysis powder. If Kitty here hadn't shown up I don't know what would have happened."

"Oh my," Kasumi blinked, studiously ignoring the way Nabiki cuddled in Shampoo's arms at the end of that statement. "It seems I owe you some thanks."

"Stupid stick-boy," Shampoo growled. "He run away before Shampoo could beat him. Chasing lost boy that not there, idiot." Kasumi looked at her sister with surprise.

~She cast an illusion?~ Kasumi blinked. ~She's done much since coming back from China. Could she be returning to the art?~ It would be good news if that was so, Nabiki had so much potential. It was a shame that she let it sit unused, at least until she had returned home with sealed and cloaked flasks of Jusenkyo water.

"Yeah, now he thinks I'm a sorceress," Nabiki said, Kasumi knew the comment was directed at her, but Nabiki didn't turn to look at her. "But then he thinks everything walks out of a samurai tale." Then they were walking into the gates of the dojo.

"That is good enough, Shampoo," Kasumi said. "I can handle it from here."

"Must SEE Nabiki in bed," Shampoo retorted. "I don't trust her not to be stupid."

"You'll be paying for that," Nabiki promised sourly. There was no way she was going to get anything done with both of them mothering her. She caught her breath as Shampoo rushed up the stairs with her. Nabiki was aware that they were leaving Kasumi behind at the door, and was glad of it. It was only moments before she was being set down gently into her bed. "I'm not made of porcelain, Shampoo."

"You no martial artist either," Shampoo noted in response. "Not heal so fast as us, so rest. Shampoo handle problems for now." They kissed, holding the embrace for several moments before pulling back. "Besides, you are probably more fun when not all beaten up." Nabiki blushed again as the amazon repeated the encouragement she had whispered in Tofu's office.

"Shampoo, you forgot the water of drowned girl," Nabiki snapped as Shampoo was about to leave. "It's on the dresser there. I was going to give it to you at lunch, but since you're here now…" Shampoo looked to the flask and returned to pick it up, smiling.

"No more Kitty," Shampoo teased as she unstoppered the flask. She looked to where Nabiki was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her.

"Too late for that," Nabiki said, smirking. "I'm afraid you're stuck as Kitty." Shampoo biihed the middle Tendo as she upended the flask over her head. The tingle of transformation started through her body, and cut short. Opening her eyes Shampoo was not surprised to see her still human hands, she was elated. Letting out a wordless squeal of delight she turned to hug and kiss Nabiki again.

"Cured, and if water-girl really Amazon, then Shampoo free too," the amazon exclaimed. "Wo ai ni!" Nabiki smiled but wasn't so certain that Cologne would accept this.

"And I love you, but you have to go back before the old ghoul starts looking for you," Nabiki said, reluctantly letting go of Shampoo. The amazon nodded quietly, standing up. "And if Cologne doesn't accept Ranko, try to stall her, a week at least."

"That harder than you think," Shampoo said. "But I will try. Be back for lunch." Shampoo was bouncing happily downstairs away from Nabiki's room when she noticed Kasumi waiting for her at the doorway. It appeared as if she had not moved since Shampoo broke away from her upon entering.

"I have to tell you one thing before you go," Kasumi said in her normal soft tone.

"What Nabiki-sister want?" Shampoo asked nervously, she really didn't want Kasumi to dislike her. That was almost a damning comment for this nice woman to dislike anybody.

"I shall be honest and say that Nabiki's…inclinations, while uncomfortable, do not surprise me much," Kasumi said. "And with Ranma having been in the house all this time, I suppose I'll accept it sooner or later. But I do not trust you." She paused to let that sink in. Shampoo was trying to figure out how she could stay so calm in attitude, disapproval without anger was strange to her. "You are a very relentless young woman, and Nabiki is providing you with much to your benefit."

"I am not using your sister," Shampoo said firmly.

"Yes, well do try not to prove me correct," Kasumi asked politely and calmly, as if she were simply asking for a favor. "Now, I must try to find where my father and Mr. Saotome went. Have a nice day." Kasumi smiled and walked towards the living room.

"How be nice and threaten at the same time?" Shampoo asked herself before leaving to get her bicycle and return to the Nekohanten.

Nabiki was sitting on her bed and already glaring as Kasumi walked in gracefully and sat down at her desk.

"I can take care of myself," Nabiki said levelly, watching her sister.

"Recent events would indicate otherwise," Kasumi said, indicating Nabiki's shoulder and foot. "But I apologize for what I said earlier, if it is any consolation I did not mean it the way it sounded."

"How else was I supposed to take it, and stop acting like I'm child just because I made a mistake," Nabiki snapped. "And this time there is no mistake. This time everybody gets what they want, Cologne gets to claim Ranma as an Amazon, Ranma and Akane can be together without interference, our Dads get to see the houses joined, and…I can have Shampoo."

"Are you certain Cologne will accept whatever evidence you have?" Nabiki shrugged in a careless manner that told Kasumi that she had a plan for that as well. "And what will you do afterwards. Which of you is going to turn their backs on their obligations? This is of course, assuming that she is not using you."

"She isn't using me," Nabiki insisted.

"Yes, well try to get some sleep," Kasumi said. "And I mean real sleep, no drugs, not because you're exhausted. You need to sleep."

"There's too much to do," Nabiki said. "I need to find Kuno again, visit two hospitals, and watch Cologne for her reaction to the idea that Ranko is an Amazon."

"Then you need to plan," Kasumi said. "And center yourself, and for that you need to be rested. So do try to get some sleep." She smiled, stood up and walked for the door.

"You don't really think that after all this time not using magic that I'm going to suddenly become a powerful sorceress, do you?" Nabiki asked. "I don't like magic, I've used it a couple of times recently because I have no choice, but that doesn't mean I'm going to make it a habit." Kasumi merely smiled and continued out of the room.

************************************************

"Great Grandmother! I have good news!"

"What is that, Shampoo," Cologne asked suspiciously.

"Ranma's girl side is an Amazon," she declared happily. "I don't have to kill her now. And Ranma's an Amazon already, so I don't have to marry him. No more conflict with the younger Tendo!"

"How do you know this?" Cologne asked after looking her grand-daughter over.

"She speaks our dialect," Shampoo said, hesitantly. She had expected Cologne to ask for more information, but she did not expect Cologne to be expressing so much hostility with the idea. "And Nabiki and Ranma say so."

"And they explained how this could be?" 

"They say that the girl that fell in the stream was an Amazon," Shampoo said, narrowing her eyes. "So everyone that falls in that pool gains chi of Amazon. I'm not going to kill her!"

"Did you think that, perhaps, they are lying to you, my child?" Cologne asked coldly, her grand-daughter was openly defying her.

"Nabiki was not lying!" Shampoo didn't get it. All Cologne wanted was to claim Ranma as one of the tribe, she should be happy to find a loophole that would get him in without the necessity of a family war. The unreasonableness of this reaction had sparked her own stubborn nature.

"And how would you know that," Cologne asked dangerously. "She lies to her own family, what reason would she have to treat you any better." Shampoo blinked and backed off, then she straightened again. "My suspicions are correct then." 

"I have work to do," Shampoo declared. "Ranko is an Amazon, Ranma is an Amazon, soon maybe Akane, Nabiki and crazy-girl, if she's alive. Your problem is solved!"

~If I thought I still needed a test, I'd hope someone would put me in a cell next to that Kuno boy," Cologne sighed. ~She has turned against me.~ She thought about the possibility of what she had said though. She could perhaps accept Ranma, but this magically created girl was a problem. If what Shampoo said was true, then there was an Amazon child that could claim to have defeated her. ~I wonder how she ranks up to Ranma.~

************************************************

Kodachi was surprised that she woke up, at least surprised that she woke up in the mortal world. She expected to be dead. She looked around at the hospital in surprise, trying to work out how she had gotten there. Perhaps Mousse was not so injured as she had thought he was.

"Mousse?" She reached down to gingerly touch the bandage along her side. The gymnast sat up to see a surprised Ukyou.

"Well, this is a coincidence," the chef noted dryly.

"It's the serving girl," Kodachi said, straightening to a dignified position. She felt moderately dizzy and the rip in her side sent a wave of pain to her head. Kodachi as usual did not allow herself to express the pain. Ukyou arched an eyebrow. 

"Doesn't that hurt?" Ukyou asked, pointing at Kodachi's side.

"There are standards to maintain, and I will not ignore proper conversational posture due to the protests of my flesh," Kodachi explained irritably. 

"Uh…riiiight."

"Did you and that barbarian bring me here?"

"You could be more polite about it, sugar," Ukyou snapped. ~Ryouga was right, wait a minute, this is a Kuno. I'll wait to hear Mousse's report before I believe this demon stuff. It just seems like too much all at once.~

"Where is Mousse?" Ukyou softened somewhat at the restrained worry in Kodachi's voice.

"In another room," Ukyou said. "He was in worse shape than you."

"Is he….going to be okay?" Kodachi asked after a moment.

"The doctors thought so," Ukyou said. "Neither of you are in much of a shape to do anything strenuous for a while, but you should recover."

"I see," Kodachi let herself relax, but maintained her posture. "You seemed surprised when I first saw you, why is that?"

"Didn't expect you to be awake," Ukyou explained with a shrug.

"Then why were you here?" Kodachi asked. "You obviously do not hold much respect for me."

"Hell, no, you're a Kuno!" Ukyou snapped. "A family of loonies, there's no reason to respect any of you. But I don't know where your brother is and I don't want to do this while trying to avoid a haircut, besides you're closer."

"Do what, pray tell?" Kodachi asked arrogantly. "Challenge my brother, perhaps?" Ukyou blinked.

"You sound happy about that," Ukyou said. "I'm not making the same mistakes this time, he's going…"

"…Down like the rabid dog he is," Kodachi agreed happily. She lay back down and smiled. "I hope I can see the video."

"You WANT your brother beaten?" Ukyou, who hadn't yet heard the reason behind Kodachi's moving into the Tendo dojo, sounded disgusted. "You're all freaks." She started to leave, as she did Kodachi sat back up again.

"Kuonji-san," Ukyou paused and faced the girl again. "Please come here a moment."

"Listen lady, I am NOT anybody's servant.."

"It was not an order, it was a request," Kodachi said. "I wish to make you aware of something." Ukyou narrowed her eyes and growled before stalking over.

"This better be good, girl," the chef snapped.

"I've…only told Mousse about this," Kodachi said, glancing at her curled fists. She continued quietly "But I think he's known. I think Tendo-sensai and Ranma also know, but they've said nothing to me. I didn't even really kn…believe it until recent…events made certain…realities plain to me."

~Tendo-sensai, is she training under Akane's father now?~ Ukyou asked herself. "What are you talking about?" Kodachi uncurled her hand and held out the palm.

"What do you see there?" Kodachi asked nervously. Ukyou shrugged and took Kodachi's hand. The chef took a quick look and blinked. She glanced up at Kodachi and then back down, and dropped the hand.

"You have no lines on your palm," Ukyou said, shocked. "What the hell caused that?"

"Training," Kodachi said after a moment. "My brother expected me to be perfect under all circumstances. Injury, fatigue…." She swallowed and looked away before adding the next. "Heated uneven bars." Ukyou looked at the gymnast with unmasked shock and a little pity. "Do not question my family loyalty, Tatewaki is the traitor, not I."

"I…didn't know," Ukyou said.

"Apology accepted," Kodachi said. "Oh, and Kuonji-san, my brother's quick healing. I don't know much it, but he trained in an endurance exercise called Ao Dah Jong." Ukyou nodded as she backed to the side, letting the doctors and nurses whom had begun to arrive inside.

"I'll tell Ranma and Akane you're awake," Ukyou said wearily as she left the room. A few minutes later she arrived in the waiting room where Akane was standing over an unconscious Ranma.

"Can you not tease Ryouga at least ONCE in your life?!" Akane shouted.

"Look at him," it was that half-chinese Ranko speaking. "He's wearing a LEASH! He's tied to a door! What isn't there to laugh about?" A fuming Ryouga was doing his best not to lash out.

*CLANG*

"At least the last duplicate of Ranma's girl side wasn't such a jerk!" Ukyou snapped, glaring at the unconscious red-head.

"At least she doesn't know any better," Akane hmphed. "So you two are going back to training?"

"Yeah," Ryouga said. "She's getting close to the technique, and there are some other things I want to teach her before…" he glanced at Ukyou. "We…uh...get back."

"You're not going to wait for Kodachi and Mousse to wake up?" Akane asked surprised.

"Kodachi's awake," Ukyou said. "And I have training to finish."

"Ucchan, are you all right?" Ryouga asked noticing Ukyou's contrite attitude.

"Just something Kodachi said," Ukyou answered. The gymanst had said she thought that Ranma and "Tendo-Sensai" knew about Kodachi and her brother, but just in case she was wrong, Ukyou wasn't going to specify. "Hey, do you know what Ao Dah Jong is?" Ryouga paled.

"It's a demon hunter thing, why do you ask that?" the lost boy asked nervously. He knew hundreds of body hardening techniques, including that one, he also knew that was one of the more painful ones. It easily surpassed the Baksai Tenketsu for sheer pain, while not giving as much back. At least that was Ryouga's opinion.

"Kodachi said something about Kuno knowing it," Ukyou eyed him carefully. "What do you know about it?"

"Trust me, Kuno hasn't gone through that training," he nearly laughed. "He screams too much."

"Why is that?" 

"At least we're at a hospital already," Ranma grumbled as he woke up, he glanced at Ranko and blinked. He suddenly had a sense of standing over his own body. "Okay, this is weird." The red-head sat up grumbling irritably in Chinese at the oblivious Japanese martial artists around her.

"Would you please be quiet, Ryouga was talking about a technique Kuno might know," Akane snapped at them.

"Oh…" all eyes turned toward Ryouga who sweatdropped.

"So what is the big deal about this technique?" Ukyou rephrased her question.

"You see, the point is too deliberately cause as much pain as you can to the trainee," Ryouga explained. "They're supposed to fix it themselves. Advanced training calls for you to injure yourself. To be really worth it you'd have to start training young enough that you don't have a clear idea of pain." Ranma, Akane and Ukyou all thought of Kodachi.

"What's the point of that?" Akane asked shocked.

"Increase pain tolerance and endurance," Ryouga said. "Prepare a demon hunter for what happens when they mess up."

"That's probably the second stupidest thing I've ever heard of," Ranma blinked.

"Demon hunters do a lot of things we'd think were stupid, like…." Ryouga blinked and suddenly burst out laughing. Half the medical staff nearby shushed him. "err…sorry." He continued laughing though.

"Okay, what's so funny?" Ukyou growled.

"Yeah, Ryouga this is serious," Akane snapped.

"What does this have to do with that stupid samurai-boy?" Ranko demanded.

"Another demon hunter 'body hardening' technique," Ryouga giggled. "Is faking death and unconsciousness. They're better than anybody else at it." The other martial artist looked at him as if he'd lost it. "They roll with a hit and just fall, they even control their chi flow to look dead."

"You mean to tell me that Kuno's been faking going unconscious this entire time?" Ranma blinked. "That doesn't sound like the arrogant jerk."

"It would explain why he claims you've never beaten him," Akane sighed. "But Nabiki used to drag him to the nurse's office all the time."

"He must not be fast enough for Ranma," Ukyou shrugged. "But….I'm not that fast."

"Hey, where are you two training?" Akane asked, suddenly.

"Mt. Terror, why?" Ryouga asked.

"Hey, maybe we can join you later today," Akane said. "Maybe, we'll actually manage to get some training done."

"That'll be….nice," Ukyou said after a moment. ~I hope they don't camp TOO close.~

"Good, now we have to go visit my student," Akane said, walking off. Ukyou blinked.

"Wait, YOU'RE 'Tendo-sensai?'" She glanced at Ranma as if to ask him how he could let her train Kodachi.

"It seems to work," Ranma said. "See you guys later." He seemed about as thrilled about joining them as Ukyou did.

"Hmm, that's a stroke of luck!" Ryouga declared.

"Right what a perfect way to intrude on each other's private time," Ranko muttered. Ryouga and Ukyou stared at her. "Oh…heh…was that in Japanese? Uh, I'm going to catch up with them…bye!!" The water girl disappeared after Ranma and Akane.

"Huh? What was that about?"

*CLANG*

"How can you and Akane be so dense?" Ukyou growled as she dragged the dazed martial artist out behind her.

*************************************************************


End file.
